Pontprennau is a ward and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in the north of the city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, lying north of Pentwyn and

Cyncoed Cyncoed ( ); is an affluent and exclusive community (Wales), community in the northeast of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. With many properties in the area fetching over £1 million, Cyncoed is considered to have some of the highest property prices ...

, between the village of

Old St Mellons Old St Mellons ( cy, Pentre Llaneirwg) is a village, a community and a civil parish on the eastern edge of Cardiff, Wales. Lying to the east of the Rhymney River, it forms part of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is separated from the mo ...

and the farmlands east of

Lisvane Lisvane ( cy, Llys-faen) is an affluent community in the north of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, located north of the city centre. Lisvane is generally considered to be one of the wealthiest residential areas of Wales, with an average house ...

. The community had a population of 7,353 in 2011.

History

Pontprennau is the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for "Bridge of Trees". Lying east-west along the foot of the hills of the South Wales valleys, with

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

directly north, the area is defined by a series of hills, intersected by shallow valleys created by streams which feed as tributaries into the

Rhymney River The Rhymney River ( cy, Afon Rhymni) is a river in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales, flowing through Cardiff into the Severn Estuary. The river formed the boundary between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire until in 1887, t ...

. Once a part of an area made up of several farms in

Llanedeyrn Llanedeyrn ( cy, Llanedern) is a former village, now a district and community, in the east of the city of Cardiff, Wales, located around 3.5 miles from the city centre. The parish of Llanedeyrn rests on the banks of the river Rhymney and is vis ...

, Pontprennau was designated in the 1970s for residential development, with the

M4 Motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

Junction 30 developed for the purpose. It has expanded greatly since the early 1990s, driven primarily by private sector housing, and then corporate offices on

Cardiff Gate Cardiff Gate is a business park development, located on the junction 30 of the M4 motorway and the A4232 north east of Cardiff, South Wales. Development In light of the development of farmland into housing at Pontprennau in the east of Cardiff i ...

. St. Mellons and Pontprennau were suburbs of Cardiff by 1974 and by the 1990s the estates started to spill over the boundaries into Lisvane and Cyncoed. The Pontprennau

was created from part of the Llanedeyrn ward of the previously existing St Mellons community in 1996. The remaining part of the St Mellons community became

Today

According to the

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, there were 8,037 people living in Pontprennau. However, this has expanded greatly since, due to sustained housing development both in West Pontprennau and on further pieces of unused land. East Pontprennau, adjacent to the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

junction 30, is the commercial sector of the development, housing Cardiff Gate Business Park,

Cardiff Gate services Cardiff Gate services ( cy, Gwasanaethau Porth Caerdydd) is the motorway service station on the junction of the M4 motorway (junction 30) and the A4232 road, A4232, located on the Cardiff Gate, Cardiff Gate International Business Park, adjacent ...

, and Cardiff Gate Retail Park. The business park provides office accommodation to regional representation for many multinational companies and is also home to the Emergency Control Centre for South Wales, as well as the fire training centre. There is also a motorway service station, Ibis Hotel and Toby Cavery. The retail park is home to a large 24/7

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

supermarket and petrol station, a B&Q DIY store, a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

restaurant, a gym, coffee shop, and several home furniture stores. Central Pontprennau is mainly devoted to housing development. The northern edge and highest point in the community is where the community centre, the church, Pontprennau Primary School and Pontprennau Medical Centre, dentist and pharmacy are located. At the bottom of the hill is the western edge, which has a small commercial area, with a large proportion of the land dedicated to industrial use now being converted to private sector housing. It also houses a

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

supermarket,

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

car centre, The Village Inn Public House and restaurant, and the

Spire Healthcare Spire Healthcare Group plc is the second-largest provider of private healthcare in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Spire Healthcare was formed from the sale of B ...

hospital. West Pontprennau, situated to the west of Butterfield Park and bordering Lisvane, is the newest of the three areas. It consists mainly of residential housing, but it also contains an

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

supermarket and Cyncoed Medical Centre, which transferred from

to Pontprennau in 2005. There is also a small children's play area at Peppermint Park.

School

Pontprennau Primary school opened in September 2015. It is a 2 Form of Entry school with 48 full-time equivalent nursery places. The school was completed in two phases. The first phase was ready in time for the school year starting September 2015. At this stage the school had two reception classes plus a nursery. The school was then fully open in time for the school year commencing September 2016. The establishment of a primary school within Pontprennau aims to stop the over subscription of children attending schools in Lisvane and Llanishen. This project forms part of Cardiff Councils 21st Century Schools Programme which is 50% funding by Welsh Government.

Proposed expansion

There are several sites remaining within the area with potential to be developed. The first is to the east in a plot east of the linkroad between Pontprenau and Old St Mellons. Scheduled to provide an additional 50 or more houses, this has now been turned down twice on planning permission. Developments further east would be barred, due to the scheduled green land space between Cardiff and Newport, in which Old St Mellons lies. A proposed major expansion of the area to the west by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

is opposed by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

. This would see a development by

Redrow plc Redrow plc is one of the largest British housebuilders with a network of 14 operational divisions across the UK. It is based in Flintshire, Wales and employs 2,300 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently a constituent ...

of a further 4,000 houses in the farmland lying between West Pontprennau and

. However, since the late-2000s financial crisis, and with apartments lying empty in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

and the councils pressing for development of brown field sites within the city first, development is delayed with no timescale. In July 2012, Cardiff Council's preferred new

Local Development Plan Town and country planning in Wales is based on the land use planning system which applies in England. However, the system in Wales has some distinctive features which have arisen because substantial responsibility for town and country planning has ...

was released. The plan proposed 45,000 new homes to be built in Cardiff by 2026, allowing the city's population to rise by a quarter to more than 400,000. The proposal encompasses: 7,500 homes in a new suburb west of

Pentrebane Pentrebane ( cy, Pentre-Baen) is a district in the west of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is part of the Fairwater community. Description Pentrebane was built in the 1960s on agricultural land to the northwest of Fairwater. The newer estate si ...

; 2,000 homes on land north of junction 33 on the M4; and 6,000 west and 2,000 east of Pontprennau. The Pontprennau development would extend: *West: 6,000 homes between Pontprennau to

, stretching as far north as the M4 *East: 2,000 homes in the green land, defined by a border south of the M4 and east to the border with Newport, connecting or subsuming Pontprennau and

Transport

Pontprennau has good transportation links, being located next to the

junction 30. Public transport is provided by

Cardiff Bus Cardiff Bus ( cy, Bws Caerdydd) is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to r ...

, which serves Pontprennau with services 57 and 58, with buses running approximately every 7–8 minutes during peak time, taking around 40 minutes to reach

Cardiff City Centre Cardiff city centre ( cy, Canol Dinas Caerdydd) is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway sta ...

via Pentwyn,

Penylan Penylan is a district and Community (Wales), community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenue (landscape), avenues. Situated to both the north and s ...

and

Roath Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdow ...

. Services 51 and 53 run through west and central Pontprenau to the city centre via the Heath Hospital, and the 52 service stops near west Pontprenau, running to the city centre approximately every half hour via

and

. Additionally

NAT Group Adventure Travel (stylised as Adventuretravel; formerly NAT Group and New Adventure Travel) is a bus and coach company in South Wales. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. History Established in 2008 with four buses, Adventure Travel has now gr ...

operates the X1 bus, running from Cardiff Gate in East Pontprenau to

Culverhouse Cross Culverhouse Cross ( cy, Croes Cwrlwys) is a district straddling the boundary between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the community of Wenvoe. The district is centred on a major traffic roundabout that links West Cardiff to the M4 mo ...

via the city centre. On the council's bicycle network plan, Pontprennau is linked directly to the city centre via onroad routes via Pentwyn. However, to the south a gravel trail path runs along the flood plain of the

on the

Llanrumney Llanrumney ( cy, Llanrhymni) is a suburb, community and electoral ward in east Cardiff, Wales. Llanrumney was in Monmouthshire until it was incorporated into Cardiff in 1938. History The land where modern Llanrumney stands was left to Keynsham ...

side of the A48 link road, which is easily accessible via tarmac paths which run north–south within the Pontprennau community. The Rhymney River trail gives both walkers and cyclists easy access to the

Newport Road Newport Road is a 4.7 mi (7.5 km) road leading east from the centre of Cardiff, Wales, towards Newport, until it joins the A48 at St Mellons. Description Newport Road follows the route of the A4161 through Roath and the B4487 t ...

both west and east of Llanrumney, and hence via the eastern entrance through Llanrumney Bowls club to the extensive retail park on Newport Road West.

Sport

The field is the home of the "Pontprennau Pumas", the local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team, running two adult teams in the Cardiff Combination Leagues. They also have teams at under 12's and under 11's. The club are sponsored by Cardiff Gate Business Park. Pontprennau Community Centre playing fields (allocated to the school, but open for community use) provides one of many "green-grass-expanse" family activity areas within the community, and a standard sized football field.

Local services

Community Centre *Pontprennau Community Education Centre, Heol Pontprennau, Pontprennau. Church *The Bridge Church- Pontprennau, an evangelical church meeting in Pontprennau Primary School (www.bridgechurchcardiff.org) *Pontprennau Community Church, an ecumenical church, served through the Cardiff east ministry area Library *There is no library located in Pontprennau, but a mobile library service visits once a week. Parks & Play Areas *Lascelles Park - Park and children's play area *Pontprennau Playing Fields - Playing fields and basketball ball court (Hoel Pontprennau) *Crawford Drive - Park and children's play area, leading to the

Trail *Butterfield Park - Park and children's play area *Peppermint Park - Park and children's play area Supermarket *

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

at Cardiff Gate Retail Park *

Garden Centre *Dutch Garden Centre, Maes-y-Bryn Road Public Houses *Toby Carvery, at Cardiff Gate business park *Village Inn, Croescardan road, part of the Mitchel & Butler pub chain

Local Council

the local authority which covers Pontprennau, the main council offices are at County Hall, Atlantic Wharf,

Representation

Cardiff ward location - Pontprennau Old St Mellons

Pontprennau is a

of the

City of Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

but there is no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

for the area. Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons is an electoral division located in the North East of Cardiff. It is represented by Dianne Rees of the

Welsh Conservative Party The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...

, and Georgina Phillips of

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922 ...

Government

Senedd

Pontprennau is in the Cardiff North

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

for the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

, represented by

Julie Morgan Julie Morgan (née Edwards; 2 November 1944) is a Welsh Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of the Senedd for Cardiff North seat in the Senedd since the 2011 election. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff Nort ...

MS, a member of the Welsh Labour Party.

Westminster

Cardiff North has been represented since 2017 by

Anna McMorrin Anna Rhiannon McMorrin (born 24 September 1971) is a Welsh Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff North since 2017. She has served as the Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice since 2021, and was a ...

MP, a member of the Labour Party.

References

External links

Pontprennau Medical CentrePontprennau PACT at OurBobby.comPontprennau Pumas
{{Politics and Government in Cardiff Communities in Cardiff