We paid a quick research visit to Cardiff to check out the Mill, Canton - a joint venture between Cadwyn, Tirion Homes and Lovell, the developers. It is a huge development of 800 mainly red brick, architecturally without merit (affordable) houses and flats, tacked on to the east side of Cardiff. Many for rental, help to buy etc, with housing association involvement. From pictures on the website showing houses with solar panels, we thought we were possibly visiting a future proof sustainable, eco development. Forget it - same old, same old. It’s actually a modern slum.
Tiny houses packed together with microscopic gardens, all overlooked by other properties, ugly concrete pillars, narrow roads, with serious parking issues. Zero green space, no play areas - we did not see a single child out playing. Zero solar panels, zero heat pumps, zero community energy provision and no EV charge points are visible. Talking to a resident he confirmed: no public transport, no play areas, no community space for people to meet, no pub, no restaurants, no shop (20 minute walk to the nearest), groups of 5 properties are allocated only 4 parking spaces, no provision for dual car families, so diagonal parking is the norm and therefore the narrow roads are now single lane in several places. The parking bays are interspersed with low planted areas - covered in bark chippings. The wind and the high temperatures over the last few months have meant they constantly blow into people’s houses and are a major nuisance. There are multiple alleyways to allow pedestrian access, but because police cannot access the area easily, there is already a high level of crime, especially attempted burglary, and perpetrators can easily hide and get away on foot. Also noise issues. Garages when provided are tiny - we looked in one inhabited by a mini. No room to open both side doors - who thought this was good planning? Sadly, this is a depressingly familiar scenario. Unless you live to the rear of the development overlooking the scrubland, bounded by an invisible river and trees, there is barely anything green to be seen - except for the front doors - hundreds of them all painted the same shade of green. They must have obtained a job lot of the paint. If this is what we are offering our young families to live in, we are storing up trouble. Nowhere to exercise, no sense of community - dreary and soulless. Unsustainable and just awful. (PS - there are three pilot homes on the site, out of 800 odd, that have sustainability/renewable energy features built in, by Sero Homes. A tiny glimmer of light, but in percentage terms too tiny to see.)
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The report was published on 9th July - the words renewable energy do not appear in the report, neither does any mention of solar PV, or EV charging. Heat pumps appear in a two paragraph explanation of what they are. The top 10 improvements do not mention any form of renewable energy. However, the report does state that if measures were put in place, energy bills and emissions could both be halved. SO WHY IS IT NOT HAPPENING?
Click here for this very interesting session featuring 4 experts in the field of Hydrogen, and they were all totally up to date, articulate and knowledgable about what the government should be doing.
Committee for Climate Change report makes interesting reading: click here to read it.
Green investment - concern for our environment has now risen up the agenda. A budget has been made available to decarbonise houses and public building - to retrofit homes with insulation to lower carbon emissions. A good start - but where are the subsidies for solar and other renewable technologies?
Barratt Homes, UK's largest housebuilder announces major new carbon emission reduction plan 29/6/20.2/7/2020 In February 2020, Barratt announced: They would reduce diesel used by generators, change their vehicle usage policies and use energy more efficiently. They would use low energy technology, wooden timber frames.
But .... nothing was mentioned about renewable technology being installed. In July 2020, they repeated the reduction in use of diesel, announced that their houses would be zero carbon by 2030, mentioning better insulation (again), more efficient services and new green technology. |
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