Danescourt and Hailey Park – Cardiff
As the local water and wastewater company, we have a duty to support new housing developments whilst ensuring that they do not impact on the services that we provide to our existing customers.
That’s why we’re making some improvements to the way the wastewater system works within both the Danescourt and Llandaff North areas of Cardiff. This work will ensure we can manage the additional waste flows that we are expecting as the Plasdŵr housing development progresses, as well as protecting the local environment and providing you with a first-class wastewater service for years to come.
We were planning to start our work in Hailey Park and Danescourt this month (February 2023). However, due to a number of outstanding issues and the close proximity of the bird-nesting season, we are now planning to begin work on site in September. We will continue with our preparations and keep the construction timetable under review. As soon as a new start date is confirmed we will let local residents and stakeholders know.
What are we doing and why?
We have been working closely with the local authority and the developer to ensure that the sewerage network has the capacity to be able to deal with the increased flows from the Plasdŵr housing development.
Where possible, some of the new properties will be connecting into our nearby existing sewers where there is sufficient capacity. Where this is not possible, we will need to pass the waste flows directly into one of our existing trunk sewers which carries the waste to Cardiff Wastewater Treatment Works. To do this, we need to connect a sewer pipe that runs from Danescourt to a connection point located on the other side of the river Taff.
Hailey Park pumping station
Normally, our network relies on gravity for waste to flow from your homes and businesses to our sewers. However, in low-lying areas – like Hailey Park – we need to pump the wastewater up into the network.
Working closely with our designers and the local authority, it was agreed that the best solution to manage the additional flows would be to build a small pumping station within Hailey Park which the sewer pipe will connect to. Planning for this pumping station was submitted in October 2021 and was granted in September 2022.
The pumping station will be built off Ty Mawr Road, which is shown on the map above and will be approximately 24 metres long and 21 metres wide. There will be three kiosks above ground no more than 2.5 metres high. The pumps themselves will be 20 metres below ground with a concrete cover at ground level, so residents will not be able to see them or expect to notice any noise or odour from the area. This location allows us to use the existing Cardiff sewerage network whilst keeping our carbon footprint low and eliminating the risk of widespread disruption across multiple key travel routes in Cardiff.
There will also be a green fence approximately 2.4 metres high around the site, designed to blend in with the landscaping that has been planned to disguise the site, which can be seen below. We have been working closely with ecologists to plan and design a comprehensive replanting programme with the aim of boosting biodiversity within the local environment.
The first few weeks will be focused on setting up our working area which will be set up around the area that the pumping station will be built. This will appear much larger during the construction, but once built the pumping station will be significantly smaller - please see the map below.
When setting up the compound, we will need to clear some vegetation and make temporary adjustments to footpaths and access gates to ensure park users can continue to access the park safely.
During the first six weeks of our work, a temporary compound will be set up opposite the main site at the beginning of the work. Throughout our project access for park users will remain open, but there may be some diversion routes in place which will be clearly signposted.
The project will take around 18 months to complete. However, some of the replanting may take slightly longer as it will be dependent on the weather conditions at the time.
At the start of the project, you will notice construction deliveries being made to and from site. However, once the site is set up and work is underway this will be less frequent. All construction traffic will be coming through Whitchurch, via Velindre Road and Ty Mawr Road – this is shown on the map below.
De Braose Close, Danescourt
We need to cross the Cardiff to Radyr railway line and the river Taff and the only suitable location to do this with the Civil Engineering techniques that are going to be required has been identified within the area behind De Braose Close.
Whilst carrying out our investigatory work in this area, we constructed a stone track from the end of De Braose Close into the working area. The access track took three weeks to build, so to minimise disruption to both residents and the local environment this was left in place in readiness for our work.
Our work at the end of De Braose Close will start in February 2023. We will be writing to residents in this area closer to the time to let them know what they can expect.
£10,000 Community Fund
To say thank you to the community, we will be launching a £10,000 community fund in January 2023. The grant will be available to local community groups or organisations as a way of thanking them for bearing with us while we carry out our work.
To apply, groups will need to click here and submit a Community Fund application form. Within the first step of the application, you will be asked to select a category that best fits your application. Select "Project giveaway" and quote the reference "Llandaff".
This is funded by Welsh Water’s project team working in the area and is separate to the funding made available through the company’s Community Fund.