The Friends of Nant Fawr Community Woodlands was established in 1993 to aid the conservation of the Nant Fawr (big stream) Woodlands in Cyncoed.  This is an area of about 100 acres, now owned by Cardiff County Council, which forms a valuable and attractive wildlife corridor between Roath Park Lake and the large open space surrounding Llanishen Reservoir.  The Friends are local volunteers who lay paths, clean the stream, coppice and clear litter.  They also organise bird walks, nature trails and evening rambles.  Since their formation, well over 200 metres of stone path have been laid using over 800 tons of stone.  They have also built four bridges, a bird-viewing platform, three notice boards, two gates for the disabled and three bench seats.  1000 trees and 600 wild flowers have been planted.

For the last seven years Llanishen Reservoir, which is adjacent to their working  area, has been threatened by successive planning applications by Western Power Distribution Ltd to drain threequarters of the Reservoir in order to build more than 320 houses on the site.  Faced with the prospect of losing the reservoir and adjacent land, mainly local people have formed a Reservoir Action Group (RAG) to combat the plans to develop this treasured stretch of open countryside within the city boundaries.  The membership of more than 2,000 have publicised the proposals and fund-raised to fight them with barristers and expert witnesses at three public inquiries.

RAG's case has been consistent and soundly based on planning arguments:

2.  The existing water area provides a wide range of sailing and sail training which could not be matched on the proposed reduced water area  
 

3. The proposal would cause unacceptable harm to the Llanishen Reservoir Site of Importance for Nature Conservation.

Both RAG and the Council are firmly together on the open space corridor reason for rejection.