Cardiff Bay A Level Field Work
(Welsh A Level Working Party)
4th May 2001
Participating Schools
Tregaron, Penweddig, Aberaeron, Lampeter, Cardigan, Dyffryn Teifi,
Bro Myrddin, Y Strade & Dyffryn Aman
The notes and photographs below are intended as a record of the days field work to be used at school as part
of the follow up activities. The Cardiff field work was divided into two sessions. One being a tour looking at
the changes that have been initiated by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC), with the second
session being led by Mr Tony Lewis from the Butetown History & Arts Centre who focused on the impact of
change on the locality and social segregation.
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation Tour
South Cardiff which includes the wards of Grangetown, Butetown & Splot have historically been seen as a
problem district in the capital. They tended to suffer disproportionately from higher rates of unemployment,
poor quality housing and environmental deprivation. With the closure of the East Moors steel works, which
provided large numbers of well paid jobs in an area where there were few, central government decided that
decisive action was required. With this in mind and with the example of the Docklands Development
Corporation in east London fresh in their minds the CBDC was established as a quango. This caused some
consternation at the time as the planning responsibilities of the local authority were vested in a body that had
no local democratic mandate. The CBDC identified a number of key issues that required action to develop the
locality:
 Improved communications
 Link between the waterfront and the centre of Cardiff
 Regeneration of the waterfront
 Create job opportunities and investment in the locality
The Corporation had a mission statement to, “to put Cardiff on the international map as a superlative
maritime city which will stand comparison with any such city in the world”.
A map of south Cardiff
The CBDC was established in 1987 and wound up in 2000. Over the period of its activity it was responsible
for the spending of £1.4bn. The Corporation had an annual budget of £40m from central government on
condition that a further £160m was attracted from other sources. This was supplemented by a European grant
of £7m. The redevelopment is the second largest in Europe in area and significantly larger that other schemes
such as the Boston waterfront redevelopment in the USA.
Broadly speaking the Cardiff Bay Area can be divided into three zones. To the east around the three working
docks are areas of traditional industrial activity which are dominated by NEG a Japanese specialist
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glass plant which produces a significant amount of Europe’s glass for TV screens and Allied Steel. The
central zone is dominated by offices such as the old South Glamorgan County Hall (now the City and County
of Cardiff County Hall)and the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) complex along with leisure and visitor
National Assembly for Wales buildings
features. These visitor attractions include the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village (12 screen cinema, 26 lane
bowling alley, nightclubs and extensive free parking), Techniquest, the St David’s Hotel and Spa which was
the first 5 star hotel in Wales and a huge array of restaurants, cafes and bars. The leisure focus will be
significantly enhanced with the construction of the National Millenniunm Centre. The present facilities attract
1.5 million visitors to the waterfront each year.
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The west is dominated by housing which ranges from the 1960’s to 70’s developments to new water front
sites such as those to be found at Penarth marina. Within this zone are a number of retail sites with Tesco and
Asda being the most prominent. The retailing capacity will be augmented by the imminent arrival of IKEA.
Very few of the original dock buildings have survived due to the nature of the coal trade. There was not much
call for warehousing facilities as the coal was stored in wagons in sidings or loaded straight on to ships for
export. Where original buildings still exist they have usually been sympathetically incorporated into their new
surroundings as with the Pierhead building.
The Pierhead building
The few major historical buildings in the CDBC area allowed the corporation to develop a style of building.
To reflect the maritime nature of the area many of the new buildings reflected this in their design with the
prow of ships and sails becoming part of the design brief. The names of many locations reflected Cardiff’s
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Waterfront restaurants and eateries reflecting the maritime tradition
seafaring part. Associated British Ports who are major land holders in the bay have generally built office
complexes on their land and named the Scott Harbour office complex after Captain Scott who left for the
South Pole in a vessel that sailed from Cardiff.
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Scott Harbour
To improve communications the A4232 which connects to the M4 via Culverhouse Cross now runs
underneath the bay area and comes up close to the National Assembly for Wales complex. This ease of access
is not complimented by parking facilities and as traffic increases and empty plots are being converted from
temporary car parks into new building projects the problem is destined to get worse. The direct link to the
CBD and civic centre has been facilitated by Lloyd George Avenue. This highway connects the bay to Bute
Square which abuts the southern edge of Cardiff’s CBD. Running parallel to the avenue is a rail link which it
is planned will have a tram facility. This route is also a line of social segregation with the old Butetown
residents living to the west of the tracks and the new upwardly mobile population attracted to the new often
water front residences to the east of Lloyd George Avenue.
The regeneration of the water front area was always going to be a challenge in Cardiff. The bay feeds into the
Severn Estuary which has the second highest tidal ranges in the world. This results in impressive 40
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foot tides which means that at low tide over 500 acres of mud flats were exposed. It was argued strongly by
the CBDC that a view of this nature would put off any potential investors. Their solution was the construction
of a £190m barrage with the consequent construction of a 500 acre freshwater lake and an eight-mile
St David’s Hotel and Spar - A flagship development that drew in further investment
constant water frontage which could be exploited by potential investors. The proposals bitterly divided local
and political opinion. The major opposing views coalesced around conservation issues and concerns about
the impact of the entrapment of huge amounts of water on ground water levels. The mud flats may have been
unattractive to developers but they were a SSSI and the feeding ground for significant numbers of migratory
birds. It was argued by developers that sufficient mud flats existed along the banks of the Severn to provide
adequate alternative feeding grounds for these birds The south of the city has always had problems with
drainage and dampness and campaigners against the barrage feared that the creation of a freshwater lake
would compound the problems. As part of the planning consent property owners will be provided with regular
free dampness checks.
Recently concerns have been expressed about water quality and experience from other barrage schemes of
this type have raised concerns about the dymnamics of impounded water. To address this issue the bay water
has had to be aerated to ensure against algae bloom, with the water quality being checked every 15 minutes.
To facilitate the passage of vessels and fish, locks and a fish pass has been constructed. Over 7,000 salmon
and trout have been introduced into the river system. These have been tagged and a 13 lb sea trout has been
recorded. The leisure vessels are mainly serviced by facilities in the south-west at Penarth Portway which has
space for 300 vessels. This development has resulted in a range of housing, of which 25% is social housing
which is for rent. The price of housing ranges from £100,000 for two bed room apartments
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Part of the Penarth Portway scheme with a council estate in the background
A marina development at Penarth
to £400,000 for 4 bed room houses. These are seen as an investment and a number have been bought with
this in mind. They are rented out to generate extra income for their owners. The marina district is connected
to heart of the bay area by a tourist and commuter water bus.
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Cardiff Bay water bus
The CBDC zone covers the edge of the bay at Penarth and an interesting contrast in housing types just
outside the bay can be seen by going ½ km to the west into the Vale of Glamorgan. This large council estate
is in a poor state of repair with many units having no residents. The estate is built on a ridge overlooking the
bay. The number of boarded up units would suggest that residents have been decanted out to other properties
with a view to redevelopment of the site.
A council estate in the Vale of Glamorgan over looking Penarth Haven
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Bute Street and Lloyd George Avenue
The arrival of NAfW in Cardiff Bay was a major vote of confidence in the redevelopment. But these changes
were not the only changes that the area has seen. Bute Street was built by the agents of the Marquis of Bute as
a planned settlement in 1829. The scale of the project reflected the wealth that was created by the south
Wales coal industry and in a modern context could be compared with the wealth being created by a company
like Microsoft in Seattle, USA. Some of the buildings related to this trade can still be seen. The first million
pound cheque signed in the world was written in the Cardiff Coal Exchange which is to be found in Mount
Stewart Square which is just off Bute Street. Purpose built commercial offices were constructed to trade coal
which at the time was the most effective source of energy in the world.
The chambers used by Roald Dahl’s father to trade coal around the world
This trade resulted in significant immigration, initially from within Britain and then from the Mediterranean,
and later from Africa and the Middle East. These links have resulted in more recent immigration. The original
Somali community were drawn to Cardiff over many years by the coal trade. When the recent civil war in
Somalia broke out, people fleeing the conflict naturally looked for a safe haven within the Somali Diaspora
and as a result many came to Cardiff. The second largest Somali community in Britain is now to be found in
the city.
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In 1948 Butetown was taken over from the Bute Estate by the City of Cardiff. By this time Butetown was a
very different place as coal was in serious decline and Cardiff had suffered to some degree from war damage.
There was generally a desperate shortage of housing. The area had a strong sense of identity as a multicultural
and multifaith area which was almost physically cut off from the rest of Cardiff by rivers,
One of the several mosques to be found in Butetown
docks and the Paddington to Fishguard railway line that separated Butetown from the city centre. The city
fathers saw Butetown as a district in decline, with serious problems related to damp with the attendant
medical conditions, a locality with poor housing which was characterized by out side toilets and poor
electricity supply. It was decided in 1957 that the area needed to be redeveloped and this could best be
achieved by whole sale demolition and a planned reconstruction. This reconstruction would be based on three
phases and would be significantly influenced by government policy.
Phase One - Loudoun Square 1960 - 1966
Phase one started in Tiger Bay around Loudoun Square. This was an area of substantial housing. Large
properties which had been originally constructed by successful sea captains were now used as apartments.
The term apartment had a negative connotation and came to be associated with over crowding. Visiting
sailors and first generation immigrants tended to look for accommodation in culturally familiar communities.
Finding accommodation in other parts of the city was also problematic as racist values were far more
acceptable at that time. This resulted in a family from one ethnic minority renting a large house and then
subletting rooms to other people from their ‘homeland’ to help pay the rent. So you could get houses that
were Yemeni, Spanish or West Indian. At the time of this development the Labour government of Harold
Wilson introduced a scheme to increase the number of houses being build. Modern town planners were
impressed with the ease and speed of construction of system built tower blocks. It was felt that the taller the
building the quicker the housing shortage would be solved. Regulations were introduced that provided
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councils with grants if tower blocks over 13 storeys were constructed. To benefit from this opportunity the
community of Loudoun Square was demolished and replaced by two huge tower blocks.
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Loudon Square today with some of the few shops in Tiger Bay
Phase Two - Low rise developments 1965 - 1970
The problems of isolation, lack of community spirit, poor planning of support services were picked up in the
second phase of the development. Whole sale demolition was still the starting point ,but low rise, large scale
housing with a 30 year life expectancy was the central focus of the scheme.
Low rise developments in Butetown
Generally these properties are coming to the end of their planned life span. This with poor maintenance has
resulted is housing stock that requires a lot of remedial work. In the photograph above grass is growing out
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of the guttering, there are old wooden windows which are rotting in places, brick work has been stained by
water, there is poor pointing, seals that have gone ensuring all the overflow pipes have water coming out of
them and the majority of ridge tiles are missing.
Phase Three - Pockets of low rise developments from1975
Local political pressure resulted in the halting of whole sale demolition of districts and the more sensitive
development of smaller council estates and blocks from 1975 onwards. The developments tend to be
concentrated in the south of the ward.
Generally, north-west Butetown has gained little from the investment in Cardiff Bay, apart from superficial
projects such as street art and some traffic calming efforts that have the potential to make the locality even
more isolated.
Street art in Bute Street celebrating the cultural diversity of the are
Celtic knot work
The tiger from Tiger Bay
Asian hand painting
Traffic Calming measures in Bute Street
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The CBDB housing developments are to be found to the east of Lloyd George Avenue. The age, style and
type of houses are markedly different from those to be found around Loudoun Square. Currently 4 bedroom
houses to the west of the railway line and Lloyd George Avenue sell for around £40,000. An equivalent sized
property 150m to the east sells for £400,000 on a 99 year lease. Ironically a number of properties are sold as
apartments but this does not attract the odium that the phrase attracted in the 1960’s.
New apartment blocks under construction on Lloyd George Aveune
Proximity to water is a critical feature for housing in this part of Butetown. Housing units with views of the
water front are more expensive. The inhabitants of this part of Butetown have been attracted by the location
features and employment opportunities such as those to be found to the south of the ward. Most of the
residents of this area have moved in. Many tend to be young professionals or in some cases old and childless.
This age profile is very distinctive and there are few attractions for families in this part of town.
A study of Cardiff Bay offers many opportunities for case studies at A level. The notes, photographs in this
article and data, archive of photographs and web links found on the county intranet will help to develop this
work.
9.V.2001
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