Shopkeepers in Cardiff are in conflict with local council over anti-flooding rain gardens that are proving to be a mess for retailers and shoppers alike.
It is being raised that areas for capturing water, installed in 2021 as part of a £5 million redevelopment plan, have turned into eyesores that are preventing customers from parking near their shops. They have even mounted a protest to prevent council staff from repairing the gardens in the Riverside area of Cardiff, only to be threatened with arrest after the police were called.
Furious shopkeepers say they put off shoppers because they attract litter and, if someone park on top of them, turn into mud pits. Rain gardens are sunken areas of soil planted at the roadside, designed to absorb water and store it to prevent flooding.
Qasim Din, who runs a local newsagent, told The Times, “It is impacting our livelihoods big time. We are all independents and we are trying to survive. My dad has had this shop for nearly 45 years now. We have never seen it so bad like this. The loss of trade is devastating.”
Stating that there was only one loading bay on the street for nearly 25 shops, Din said, “It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “We are still paying our taxes, we are still paying our business rates and this is what we are getting for it — nothing.”
Cardiff council, which has been under Labour control since 2012, insists no parking spaces were lost in the road’s redesign and traders were consulted before the rain gardens were put in. It is carrying out remedial work on five rain gardens that have been damaged by people driving in them and parking on top of them.
“The council would like to make it clear that we will not tolerate any abuse to our staff or contractors or any unlawful activity to damage the work or remove the bollards that we are installing around the rain gardens in Tudor Street.
“Following recent activity by traders on Tudor Street, the council had to call the police for their assistance. If similar incidents continue to take place, the police will be called again.”
Simon Hannah
