Llanrumney

History

The land where modern Llanrumney stands was left to Keynsham Abbey by the Lord of Glamorgan after the Norman Conquest. According to legend, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the final prince of an independent Wales, was interred in a stone coffin by the monks in 1282, on land where Llanrumney Hall would be built centuries later.

After Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, the land passed to the Kemeys family. It remained in their possession until 1951, when it and its grounds were compulsorily purchased by the local authority in order to build the large estates that can be seen there today.

Name

The name Llanrumney comes from the Welsh word Llan (an ancient celtic sacred enclosure) and the Anglicised version of Rhymney, the local river, giving a translation of The "Church" by the Rhymney.

Area

The district is a predominantly composed of large scale council estates and is bounded by the wards of Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons to the north, Rumney to the south, Penylan to the southwest, and Pentwyn to the west. The electoral ward of Llanrumney falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth.

Facilities

The area has a number of shopping preceints, the largest of which can be found on Countisbury Avenue. There is also the Eastern Leisure Centre which is scheduled to be refurbished at a cost of £6.8m.

Llanrumney Hall, a reputedly haunted pub, is believed to have been the home of the pirate Henry Morgan from 1635. (Completely without foundation, a typical piece of Welsh folklore. Morgan was born in Rhymney near Tredegar. )

Llanrumney Library opened in 2008, replacing the old Llanrumney Library.

Education

Llanumney has six primary schools: Bryn Hafod, Pen-y-Bryn, Glan-yr-Afon, St Cadoc's, St Mellon's and Bro Eirwg, and one secondary school. Llanrumney High School closed in 2013 as part of the Council's plans to reorganise secondary education in the city.

Transport

Cardiff Bus services 49 and 50 serve the area, buses run frequently between Central Station. Route 101 links Llanrumney, along with a number of other local suburbs, to the Heath Hospital. The area is currently accessible only via various junctions along Newport Road, which also connects the suburb to the city centre to the south west and St Mellons, the A48(M) and Newport to the north east.

Park and Ride facility

In February 2008, Cardiff County Council approved plans for a new Park and Ride facility to be created on the Rhymney River flood plain adjacent to the nearby Pentwyn Interchange of the A48. In November the same year the site was cleared and access roads created from the nearby A48, signalling the beginning of the project.

Facilities reorganisation

On 20 March 2009 Cardiff Council published a legal statutory notice announcing their intention to close Llanrumney High School by 2012 as part of Cardiff County Council's plans to reduce surplus places in schools across the city. Pupils will be merged with those from Rumney High School, which is also to close, and will be housed at a new English medium secondary school built on the Rumney Recreation Ground. Presently the Eastern Leisure Centre sits in the middle of parkland at the Rumney Recreation Ground. The Eastern Leisure Centre, opened in 1982 by the former Labour Prime Minister and constituency MP James Callaghan, also forms an integral part of Cardiff Council's plans. The leisure centre is set to be refurbished and form part of a joint educational and leisure complex on the Rumney Recreation Ground.

Reception

The plans have led to the formation by residents from the communities of Llanrumney, Rumney, St Mellons and Trowbridge, Cardiff of the Rumney Recreation and Eastern Leisure Centre Action Group (RREEL). The RREEL Action Group is a non-political organisation that seeks to preserve the Rumney Recreation Ground from the proposed development. Since its formation RREEL has presented Cardiff Council with an 8,000 signed petition and 3,500 letters of objection. In February 2009 under provisions set out in the 1972 Local Government Act RREEL organised a local community poll for the residents of Llanrumney and Rumney.

During the run up to the community poll a public meeting was held at the Royal British Legion in Llanrumney on 3 February 2009. Cardiff Council Leader, Liberal Democrat Councillor, Rodney Berman attended along with the Deputy Council Leader, Plaid Cymru Councillor, Neil McEvoy. They were accompanied by the Chief School's Officer and other senior council figures. Council leaders sought to explain the rationale behind the plans.

In the week prior to the community poll the Cardiff Conference of Secondary Heads sent Council Leader Rodney Berman a letter, dated 10 February 2009, expressing their support for the council's plans. Whilst the three Llanrumney Labour Councillors Morgan, Parry and Joyce called on the people of Llanrumney to vote no.

Local community poll

Residents of Llanrumney and Rumney voted in a community poll held over five hours on 17 February 2009. The question they were asked to vote on at the ballot box was "Do you agree with Cardiff City and County Council that the new school should be built on the Rumney Recreation Ground/Eastern Leisure Centre Site?"

93% voted against the proposed development on a turnout of 27.6%. This was a comparable turnout to local council elections considering that there were only five polling hours, no postal votes and no postal cards were issued. In Llanrumney 2,082 people voted no, 170 people voted yes and there were 18 spoilt ballots. The turnout in Llanrumney was 28.7%.

Council Leader Rodney Berman announced in response that the council's development plans would proceed and that the community poll result was noted but would not be acted upon.

Council report

Cardiff Council presented these objections and their proposals to the Welsh Assembly Government on 20 June 2009. Cardiff Council's report noted that 1,257 letters of objection to the proposal were received. Notables who objected included Rumney High School Governing Body, Fields in Trust, Alun Michael MP, David Melding AM, Lorraine Barrett AM, Andrew R.T. Davies AM, Cllrs Cook, Parry, Ireland, Hudson, Morgan, Joyce and RREEL. The Council's report written by the Chief School's Officer, Chris Jones, stated that the majority of responses received have expressed support for a new high school to serve the East of Cardiff with the main objections being to the location of the new school. The Council concluded their case by stressing that their plans involved far more than educational changes, and stating their plans would transform the communities of Llanrumney and Rumney.