REVISED plans for the Manhattan-style Bay Pointe development have been given a cautious welcome by a spokesperson for the Penarth Society - but concerns remain about the impact on traffic in the town.

As previously reported in the Penarth Times, some local residents believe the £500 million development planned for the Sports Village site represents overdevelopment of the area.

And following calls among Penarthians to object to the scheme, developers Bay Pointe Limited recently submitted new plans to Cardiff Council.

The fresh submission sees Bay Pointe downscaled from 2,400 flats to 1,800 in ten apartment buildings, with the tallest now rising to 33 storeys, as oppose to 41.

Other changes include a reduction in the number of towers at the development - from three to two - and provisions have been made to increase the amount of public open space at the site.

But Daphne Kibble, chair of the Penarth Society, says the new design will still lead to traffic congestion in Penarth.

She said: "Certainly the resubmitted plans for the two main towers in the resubmitted scheme have more architectural merit than the massive conglomeration of 2,400 flats in the previous proposal.

"They are of striking design and the scheme also provides far more open space.

"Nevertheless, the basic objection remains.

"That is, that traffic from this development, together with the many others in the Sports Village, so far unoccupied or unbuilt, will flow onto Cogan Spur and add to the gridlock that already threatens the roundabout at the junction with the A4232 motorway feeder road."

Chris Hamilton, managing director of Bay Pointe Limited, says a traffic study aimed at combating congestion has already been carried out.

Mr Hamilton said: "In an effort to better understand residents' concerns and provide substantiation for our application, a detailed and robust traffic and transport analysis was conducted in conjunction with Cardiff County Council as part of our planning submission for 1800 apartments.

"The additional roadworks that have been constructed and opened to the public during the course of the last 12 months have been designed to cater for much greater volumes of traffic than those that are now being proposed by our development.

"One of the important factors in our development is that of sustainability and we are determined to do all we can to minimise the impact of the development on the environment, both for the area's existing residents and the new residents of Bay Pointe.

"We have already committed our support to the Cardiff Bendy Bus operation, and hope that our future residents will support the public transport system so that it can improve further and serve us all well into the future."

But Mrs Kibble added: "As the civic society for Penarth we have never objected to the 20 storeys and 1,127 apartments which were in the Sports Village masterplan for this site.

"However, this development goes way beyond."