Attending Cardiff Council's planning committee, who meet at City Hall every month, may not be the most enthralling way to spend a Wednesday afternoon for everyone. But the decisions made in that long stuffy hall can often be life changing for communities across Cardiff.
But planning is arguably one of the most important issues for Cardiffians at the moment. The city's rapid pace of change has ignited a greater strength of feeling towards protecting buildings which act as a local centrepoint, preserving the character of a place and maintaining standards which make up the foundations of a community.
This year planning applications which have lit a fire in the hearts of local people – to name but a few – have included the virulent campaign against the Splott incinerator, flats in Pontcanna, a giant balloon in Cardiff Bay, portable buildings outside Cardiff castle, and this week flats in Adamsdown and the loss of an historical landmark in Splott.
Even smaller applications for an extension to a house can cause a rift between neighbours and a petition signed by all the residents on one quiet close.
On a bigger scale the city's Local Development Plan (LDP) is a huge document which will outline the future development of the city for the next 15 years. Cardiff Civic Society have argued that without an LDP for the city, planning policy becomes hazy and the committee have little to base their decisions on.
Over the next few months we'll be looking at the city's planning and development agenda in detail.
In the first of this series we'll be conducting a set of interviews with the city's chief planning officers in charge of change in Cardiff. The first interview will look at specific planning applications and the way the planning department works. We're meeting up with Development Control Manager for Cardiff Council – Phil Williams – for an interview.
We want to know your questions. What would you like to know about planning, certain applications, the way decisions are made and the policy which shapes those decisions?
Leave your questions in comments below, we'll put them to the planning officer and publish their responses here on the blog. You can also email your questions to cardiff.local@guardian.co.uk. Over to you – what would you like to know?
