I ASKED a question at Full Vale Council on June 24, regarding the inspector’s determination of house building proposals in Dinas Powys.

Labour group leader Cllr Moore replied that the St Cyres site of 33 acres of mainly fields and woodland was, in fact, not subject to the inspectors approval, presumably in the same way that the, now demolished but perfectly useable, ‘Ardwyn’ School, was also not subject to approval before being turned into another unnecessary housing site contributing to Dinas Powys’ burgeoning traffic problems.

So, why did I, other elected Dinas Powys councillors and members of the public, bother to seemingly waste time and effort wading through the official response, sorry, ‘representation’ forms and associated background information’, when it appears the decisions would be solely down to the Vale Planning Committee with its majority of Labour-led administration members, (12 of 21).

So no ‘London Olympics Legacy’ on this site to benefit South Wales, (my personal wish, hang on, is there any in Wales?), no Pony Club fields, (as was), no community–owned space for us to manage for the benefit of locals, (is it worth the effort when the site has been railroaded towards housing from the outset?). My previous comments are borne out; if you live in Dinas Powys you are the lowest priority when it comes to any payback of our hard-earned taxes.

Look forward instead to more traffic jams, (don’t use your bike either as there is still no safe cycle/footpath to Barry or Cardiff), no safe junction for Cross Common Road/Barry Road until we accept even more houses, not enough train/bus, frequency/routes, more community asset losses generally.

Christopher Williams

Elected member Dinas Powys

Independent group