Proper Cardiff News

Our transport system is broken. Chronic road congestion, inefficient bus networks, and major delays to flagship rail and active travel infrastructure condemn us all to daily travel difficulties we’ve learned to endure. The problem can become so much worse when the city hosts a major event, which is happening all the more frequently. Cardiff deserves far better. In 2020, the Labour-led council accepted the reality of the problem.

It’s not easy to find people who like the idea of a data centre replacing Cardiff East Park and Ride. The park and ride in Llanrumney, offering 1,000 spaces for staff and patients travelling to Heath hospital, is under threat because Cardiff Council wants to sell the land to a developer called Curtis Hall, which plans to build a massive data centre there. The scheme has prompted more than 3,000 objections, which according to campaigners is the most in Welsh planning history.

Welcome back! You join us at a very busy time for Cardiff. Later this week, the city's most fiercely debated planning application in recent memory – concerning the proposed data centre on the site of Cardiff East Park and Ride – will be heard by the council’s planning committee. We’ll be bringing you a special report on that very soon. First though, we have news of a sacked police sergeant receiving a compensation package and we’re asking what’s going on with Cardiff’s promised e-bike hire scheme.

The Heath is the place we turn to when we’re in need. Lives are saved at the hospital every day by the hardworking staff on its frontline. But they are operating in unsustainable conditions. The crumbling site itself is a highly visible reflection of the hospital’s long decline. For many years while Labour was in power in Wales, the Heath was a huge headache.

Butetown Community Centre only exists at all because residents fought hard for it. When most of the original Tiger Bay housing was demolished in the late 1950s, the people of Butetown had to win “a lot of arguments” before a community hub was eventually included in plans for the new estate.

Hello! Welcome back to your Tuesday briefing. After a first week dominated by housing stories, today Conor has been looking at concerns that smoking restrictions are failing to be properly enforced at the Heath hospital as well further news on the loss of a key cancer diagnostic and treatment tool. We’ve also included a feature report from photojournalist Tom Wilkins. Over the past year and a half, Tom has become well known in Cardiff for his unique brand of documentary street photography.

Cardiff — 12 min read We tracked a landlord with housing offences dating back to 1996 If we asked you to name the places in the UK where it is hardest to get on the property ladder, where would you say? Chances are, you might say London. While London has the UK’s highest house prices, it doesn’t mean it is the least affordable. Last year, a report found that when average income is taken into account, Cardiff is less affordable to first-time buyers than any area of England or Scotland.

Hello! Welcome to our very first midweek newsletter. This week, we’ve followed up a museum jewellery robbery, uncovered details of a claim made against a prominent Cardiff developer, and questioned the council’s record of collecting affordable housing contributions from the builders of a new kind of luxury apartment. First though, we want to thank every one of you once again for your support. Less than a week since introducing this project, we’ve already gained more than 700 subscribers.

News — 2 min read Will, Marcus, Catrin and Conor // Image: Rob Norman (HayMan Media) This post is for subscribers only

Local journalism is more important than it has ever been. We all need to understand what is really going on in our local area. Unfortunately, local news has seen relentless cuts over the last two decades. That means stories affecting our communities are increasingly told by groups with ill intentions, leaving us all exposed to misinformation. It also means the place we’re proud to call home can be represented in a negative light that doesn't reflect the truth.