Paget Road open space, also known as Dock Park, has been closed in Penarth since 2023 while stability works are carried out on the nearby escarpment.
The Vale of Glamorgan Council confirmed the park will remain closed until those works are completed, with no reopening expected before the end of the year.
Many residents said they had been looking forward to using the park again this summer and would be disappointed to see it remain fenced off for another season.
The closure and recent landscaping have reignited debate over how Penarth’s green spaces are managed, following work that stripped trees and bushes from the hillside earlier this year.
A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesman said: “The park will remain closed until the stability works are complete on the Penarth Escarpment.
“The works are due for completion at the end of the year.”
A social media video posted by the Penarth Times on March 17 showed the extent of the vegetation removal and has been viewed more than 16,000 times.
Dozens of comments expressed concern about habitat loss, the visual impact of the works, and the long-term stability of the slope above Penarth Marina.
One resident said: “Personally, I prefer to see trees and bushes than millionaires’ boats.”
Others said the work had silenced birds and stripped “a lot of the character” from the park.
Some questioned whether the roots of the removed vegetation were important for holding the hillside together and whether the council “actually know what they are doing.”
Critics also pointed to a conflict between the clearance and the council’s environmental priorities.
While “red” wildlife-friendly lighting has been installed elsewhere on the Penarth–Llandough path to protect bats and other species, neighbours said “all these trees and bushes” were cut at Dock Park “for the view.”
One person described “weeks of chainsaw and chipper noise” as “unbearable” and said the work had “ruined the area.”
However, a smaller group supported the changes, describing the freshly revealed view across Cardiff Bay as a “beautiful view” and arguing that the project was necessary given the risk of land movement on the cliff.
The debate coincides with a public consultation on the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s draft Tree Strategy, which targets planting at least 1,500 trees a year, including 500 standards, and promises to replace every felled urban tree with two new ones.
Campaigners have called for details on the number of trees removed at Paget Road, whether ecological surveys were carried out, and how the loss will be offset.
