Cardiff Council earmarks historic pubs for extra protection
The local authority has proposed that 71 former pubs, clubs and cultural venues be added to the local heritage list
Cardiff Council has compiled a list of historic pubs and other buildings to be earmarked for extra protection.
It is proposed that the 71 existing and former pubs, clubs and social or cultural venues across the city be added to the council’s local heritage list.
The council has now launched a public consultation on the proposal which forms the first phase of a full review of the local heritage list.
A building protected under local listing ensures that any planning application to do with it is assessed to see if it preserves or enhances the historic and cultural character of the building.
The announcement comes two weeks after Cardiff Council decided not to take enforcement action against the developers behind a new city centre scheme after they knocked down the historical façade of Guildford Crescent without planning permission.
Some of the pubs put forward for inclusion in the local list include:
⦁ The Butchers Arms in Rhiwbina
⦁ The Albany in Plasnewydd
⦁ The Cottage in Splott
⦁ The Cornwall in Grangetown
⦁ The Pineapple in Llandaff North, and
⦁ The Halfway in Riverside
Cardiff has an existing local list of about 200 buildings, but it said a comprehensive review is overdue.
Since the original list was adopted in 1997, around a third of the 323 buildings designated at that time have been subsequently listed by Cadw for national importance, giving them statutory protection.
However, some buildings have been altered or even demolished.
Cardiff Council’s cabinet member responsible for strategic planning, Cllr Dan De’Ath, said: “We have already taken steps to safeguard some important buildings in the city, serving Article 4 directions on both the Rompney Castle and Stacey Hall, on the grounds that development would result in the loss of historic buildings.
“Article 4s can put a block in place of permitted development rights, whereby a developer is able to demolish a building they own and the council can only agree the way in which the building can be demolished.
“Reviewing the local list and adding buildings to it will enable us to issue Article 4 directions on those buildings if required.
“This will help bring demolition back under planning control and halt demolition without full planning permission being granted.
“It’s not a cure-all, as we have seen with Guildford Crescent where the street frontage was removed – although that will be restored by the developer – but it can act to put a halt to demolition while we investigate ways in which buildings, as aspects of important buildings to our community, can be retained.”
GT Guildford Crescent Limited applied to demolish what remained of 1-6 Guildford Crescent in August 2023 because it believed it to no longer be structurally safe.
Shortly after, on September 5, Cardiff Council was told that the façade had been demolished – a move which it said was in breach of planning rules – and the developer was ordered to cease works.
Hundreds marched in opposition to the proposed demolition of Guildford Crescent in 2019, back when it was then home to popular restaurants and bars like Gwdihw, and many residents and local councillors called for the council to take action on the developers for knocking down the building’s façade without consent.
Cardiff Council argued that the most appropriate form of action that could be taken, requiring the developers to rebuild the 19th Century façade, was something that was already proposed as part of the approved application for the site.
The site where 1-6 Guildford Crescent once stood will eventually be home to a new 30-storey block of apartments.
Cllr De’Ath added: “The anger and disbelief at what happened at Guildford Crescent was very real and palpable across the city.
“For myself and the planning committee there was real frustration at the way this was handled by the developer.
“I’m determined and hopeful that reviewing the list can start to make a difference and encourage a far better understanding of the importance of Cardiff’s heritage to developers moving forward.”
Buildings are not proposed for local listing if they are already on the Cadw statutory list (Grade II or above) or are protected by virtue of being within a conservation area.
Many pubs in Cardiff are therefore already afforded protection from alteration or demolition through these existing statutory designations.
Following the consultation, a summary of the responses will be compiled and reported back to the council’s cabinet.