Plans to build hundreds of new houses in Dinas Powys have reignited the debate over whether to build a bypass.
Planning permission for 70 new houses in Dinas Powys was granted last Thursday. More than two hundred more homes are planned for another site in the village (pictured).
Local people say the village, which lies on the A4055 between Barry and Cardiff, already suffers from high levels of congestion.
Campaigners disagree about whether a bypass is necessary to deal with the extra traffic these houses will bring.
Rod Harrod, chair of the Dinas Powys Bypass Steering Group, says that a bypass is the only available way of dealing with the problem.
He says houses should not be built “prior to a bypass because otherwise you cannot send a thousand extra vehicles back and forth (in Dinas Powys).”
But Anthony Slaughter, the Green Party candidate for Cardiff South and Penarth, says a bypass will worsen congestion.
“Building new roads creates demand. People think the journey is quicker, so more people who hadn’t been using their car start to use their car. This ends up with more congestion.”
Mr Slaughter says road building will damage wildlife and green field sites around Dinas Powys.
He also says the solution to congestion comes from greater use of public transport and less reliance on cars.
