Plasdwr development could cause 'unacceptable' traffic

The new development will feature 7,000 houses

Traffic could reach "unacceptable" levels in Cardiff because of a new major housing development, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives has said.

Andrew RT Davies urged Cardiff council to tackle traffic congestion ahead of the building of 7,000 new homes as part of the £2bn Plasdwr scheme.

He said there were already "serious traffic problems" because of the work.

The council said the disruption would be outweighed by "significant developments" to the highway network.

• Garden village plans approved

• £2bn Plasdwr village planned

Mr Davies said traffic from the construction of the development was affecting several communities across north-west Cardiff, including Fairwater, Radyr, Danescourt, Creigiau and St Fagans.

His concerns come as Cardiff council considers introducing a congestion charge to reduce traffic and pollution.

A spokesman for the authority said: "As these developments are built, inevitably there will be some short-term disruption, but this is managed as best as possible through the planning process.

"These short-terms issues will be outweighed by the significant improvements that will be made to the highway network when the development is complete."

"This will take a number of forms including significantly improving public transport links, improving the highway infrastructure, new bus services, improvements to both cycling and walking infrastructure and incentives for people to use public transport so they can leave their cars at home."

There will also be 400 new homes built on the BBC Wales site in nearby Llandaff in 2020.