Today's Sunday duty assignment was at St Cattwg's Pentryrch. The last time I went there was two years ago during an interregnum. It was pleasing to see this village church with a congregation of fifty adults in the congregation and more than a dozen children in Sunday School. The church is well used, and there are development plans to transform the back of the church into a more open and manageable welcome area.
In the next ten years, the near neighbourhood of this rural commuter village will change dramatically, as an all-new village is constructed, close to junction 33 of the M4. This will lie within the area for which the Parish Priest of Pentyrch will be pastorally responsible. There's another site like this one too, on the East side of Cardiff near Llanedeyrn, where there has already been a substantial expansion of the inland conurbation east of Cardiff. Both are being built in response to shortages in housing and business parks along the South Wales M4 corridor.
While it's good to see forward looking initiatives to generate employment and housing, the array of difficulties entailed in stretching existing urban infrastructure to meet greater population needs leave existing inhabitants with frustrating high levels of traffic congestion, affecting commuters and access to public amenities.
Philip, one of my former tutor group students at St Mike's is going to work in the Rectorial Benefice of Cyncoed, which embraces the new Llanedeyrn housing development. I look forward to learning from him in years ahead what this will involve for the local mission of the church in the Parish.
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