Save Rumney Recreation Ground & Eastern Leisure Centre

Building on our parkland, and selling off TWO school-grounds for profit, so that developers can build yet more houses in our area, is NOT an educational issue, but a health and environmental issue. Cardiff County Council are trying to totally hoodwink us by attempting to pass this off as an educational issue, which it most definitely is NOT!

Cardiff County Council want to set a precedent here by attempting to force us to sacrifice THREE sites of open space in our area for building. If they are allowed to get away with this no school-grounds or parkland anywhere in Cardiff will any longer be safe. Further, if they are seen to get away with this, other councils nationally may follow suit and no school-grounds or parkland anywhere will be safe from the corporate Orc development machine.

The proposed building on and subsequent destruction of the parkland, of Rumney Recreation Ground and the proposed building on the school-grounds of Rumney and Llanrumney high schools, with the inherent loss of much of this community's open spaces and many trees, being replaced by buildings, roads, car-parks etc. and the jambing up of our already heavily congested roads, is not merely an educational issue (as Cardiff Council would have us accept), it also has serious implications for the environment, as well as on the health and well-being of the entire community.

Studies have shown that exposure to the natural environment, or so-called green space, has an independent effect on health and health-related behaviours. A search on Google will reveal masses of information on the negative impact to health through loss of open spaces. To begin with:

The Lancet: Volume 372, Issue 9650

Furthermore, a joint report by Health Scotland, Greenspace Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and Institute of Occupational Medicine states that:

''People living in deprived areas are also less likely to live near to areas of woodland. People living in the most deprived areas are more likely to experience poorer air quality than those living in less deprived areas''.

''In terms of social health, the review shows that green spaces are one of the few remaining spaces that are available to all. Surveys show that green spaces are important as places of memory, and are closely associated with neighbourhood identity''.

''APSE (http://www.apse.org.uk/) believes that with regard to physical health and mental well being, evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between green space and health''.

So it would be fair to say, that we all want excellent school facilities for our children, but the Cardiff Council need to fully explore the negative consequences now and on future generations of building on parkland and school-grounds and removing existing open spaces.

In view of how detrimental the loss of parkland will be to our present lives and for future generations to come, I would urge as many people as possible to write to their MP, Alun Michael. As few as twelve people writing to their MP can get him/her to raise an issue in the House of Commons. You may also wish to write to your Assembly Member, Lorriane Barret, who would do her best to help because she is extremely opposed to Cardiff City Council building on parkland.

Last year, Llanrumney High school had RECORD GCSE results, so it appears that the curriculum is not increasingly difficult to deliver as Councillor McEvoy would have us believe. You can read all about the record results at http://www.walesonline.co.uk or just Google "record GCSE results Llanrumney High".

It would appear that Rumney and LLanrumney High schools have been deliberately allowed to deteriorate over the years in terms of their buildings, this should not have happened.

According to former WAG Education Minister, Jane Davidson:

''The Welsh Assembly Government has pledged that all school buildings should be in good physical condition and properly maintained by 2010.. Years of under-investment take time to reverse, but we have made a good start. The refurbishment of this school and the outstanding new facilities are one of a growing number of examples of delivery of our commitment''.

http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/archivepress/educationpress/edpress2003/713055/?lang=en

This has not been done for us in our area. Our schools have not been kept in good physical condition and if they had been there probably wouldn't be all this (disinformationist) talk of demolishing them.

On the other hand, Rumney High School has a brand new building that has only been open for a couple of years, which therefore, in Cardiff County Council marketing speak, means that this building is a:

“21^st Century, State-of-the-Art”

building built using Tax payers' money which the Council now wish to demolish in total disrespect for the electorate and then want to hold out their hand for yet more money, as though we are all a bunch of ignorant plebs and no one cares about this flagrant waste of tax payers' money!

Ms Davidson then goes on to say: regarding the completion of the refurbishment at St Illtyd's school:

''I am especially pleased at the way that the Teaching Staff and Pupils at the School have coped during the difficult transition period when the new buildings where being built and existing building’s refurbished''.

Yet we have been told that building cannot go ahead either in Rumney or Llanrumney High whilst pupils are present because it would cause too much disruption to their education and this is given as one of the main reasons why they allegedly MUST site the school on our Recreation Ground.

Double standards!

Education of the young is vital, but the environment and health of the entire community is equally vital. In Africa and India most schools have appalling buildings for education far, far worse than in the UK, yet the educational results of Indian and African people obtaining degrees is high. It's good teachers that matter the most. We could have a 21^st Century State of the Art Super-School at Rumney High, refurbished and extended with a fabulous view of the channel for the young people of all of our communities, including Trowbridge and St Mellons.

Our health and our environment are under attack from people, ordinary people like ourselves, who just happen to be councillors. Cllr. Rodney Berman's "vow" to ignore our landslide 93.6% NO vote shows that he and his fellow Fib Dem councillors have no respect for us at all and they will happily run roughshod over our lives and make Llanrumney an even more difficult place to live than it presently is by robbing us of our parkland and school-grounds, so that they can rake in the cash from the sale of TWO pieces of real estate from our area to spend elsewhere in the city.

The ways in which this project would impact upon the environment of Rumney and Llanrumney are many, as follows:

Loss of Ancient Mature Trees:

Some of the trees in this park are hundreds of years old and are situated right in the middle of the section of the Recreation Grounds where the Council want to build the proposed new school. If the Council cut them down they will be a tremendous loss not only to this community, but to the whole of Cardiff. Due to their great age, they cannot be transplanted to elsewhere within the park and thus will be lost forever. Even if the Council did decide to plant new trees where they would consider it more convenient to their agenda for them to be, to replace the ancient trees, they will be mere young trees just a few years old and would take hundreds of years before they attain the age, girth and sheer beauty and splendour of these existing ancient trees. To fell these magnificent specimens of trees, as the Council intend,  would be nothing less than an act of corporate vandalism, which must not be allowed to happen! Please do not allow the Council to behave like Orcs (Lord of the Rings) and destroy our magnificent trees and beautiful parkland, just to satisfy their own ignorant-agenda.

 


Increased Flooding:

The parkland of Rumney Recreation Grounds is for the most part a large expanse of flat and open grassland, with trees of various ages (some of which are several hundred years old) interspersed. Each of those trees soaks up a large amount of water when it rains and their roots maintain stability of the soil. If those trees are removed, they can no longer do that job for the environment. If young trees are planted in their place they will only be able to absorb a fraction of the amount of water the ancient trees do. Even the grassland itself is able to absorb water and allow it to penetrate into the water table below, thus minimising any risk of flooding. At the moment, even after torrential rain for days that grassland does not become flooded and very quickly recovers to a ball-game playable standard. Once the trees and a substantial portion of grassland are gone (as the Council intend with their current proposed new school plans) and buildings concrete and tarmac (car parks etc.) are put there in their place, then the remaining grassland will be at risk from flooding, as well as extensive erosion due to more frequent use (due to the loss of the other pitches). 

In order to make use of the pitches that the Council suggest that the school use down on the old Llanrumney High School site, the school will need to bus the pupils down there for their games lessons and matches, which will entail additional costs for the school in terms of buses and fuel costs (which although at an artificial low today, will have increased substantially by the time the school has been built). The Council will thus be creating unnecessary costs for the school which would not be an issue if the school were allowed to remain on the existing Rumney High School site. 

Further to that, the Council intend to sell off the site of Rumney High School for housing development. Once again this will mean a loss of a large amount of water-absorbing grassland, to be replaced by bricks concrete and tarmac, non of which absorb water, or allow it to penetrate into the water table. All rainwater in both of these areas will thus have to be channeled away through drains, to join up with and compete with the existing drains which are already at near capacity during heavy rainfall times. All of this water will then end up in the Trowbridge estate drains and could lead to flooding in that area. 

Traffic Congestion:

Building a school on the Recreation Ground site and then selling the Rumney High School site for housing development would lead to a massive increase in traffic congestion, of typically at least another two cars per household to begin with (increasing to more cars per household as those families get older), on the already congested roads of Newport Road (which at present is congested each rush hour from the top of Rumney Hill all the way down to the roundabout at Eastern Avenue) and Greenway Road. Greenway Road is also heavilly congested at both the Llaneirwg Way (St Mellons) end and the Wentloog Rd end, both of which then try to feed onto Newport road. The congestion cannot be avoided by turning into New Road, as this joins back onto Newport Road at the bottom of Rumney Hil, where it is still heavily congested. Turning off New Road into Mardy Road does not solve the problem either, as that is also congested over the bridge and the full length of Lamby Way, to Rover Way. 

Anti-Social Behaviour:

The Recreation Ground provides many ways in which young people can relax. It was only a few years ago that the council erected a special shelter on the Recreation Ground at the request of youths in the area, because they didn't want to hang around on the streets.

           

Ultimately, young people will have nowhere to meet their friends in the evenings, and we are likely to see more young people having to hang out on the streets, which could lead to an increase in anti-social behaviour. Young people need a separate area in which to relax after the end of the school day. The idea of a school on "their park" is bound the create resentment and going to school will become like a punishment for them, as their own leisure space is cruelly robbed from them by uncaring politicians. Young people deserve better than this, it is their future and they are entitled to leisure time away from the school environment and what is more, they expect it! Neither the skateboard park, nor the shelter are represented on the Council's proposed plans as displayed in their exhibition currently on display at the Eastern Leisure Centre, only until Tuesday 17th February. After this date it will be removed.

This exhibition has now been removed, but can still be viewed in PDF format from the links provided on The Proposals page.

Please take the opportunity to view this exhibition whilst it is still there and see for yourselves what the Council intend to deprive these Communities of with their current proposed plans.

Childrens' Play Facilities:

Currently, the childrens' play area is the only "swing park" in the area of Llanrumney. This may also become under threat. The council have been dismantling play areas for years and not replacing them. Two examples of this are the one lost in the Fish Ponds wood area that was dismantled over ten years ago and never replaced, and the play area on the junction of Green Way Road and Llaneirwg Way, that was dismantled and not replaced about two years ago.  A lot of children and parents use the play area on the Recreation Ground which is very popular and if this is lost many families will have nowhere local to take their small children out for an hour or so.