- Posts: 349
- Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:54 pm
I think there are three issues in play here:
1. The first is the buildings themselves and their historic nature. Whilst individually none of the buildings concerned of are ever likely to gain Grade 1 listed status, I think there is a strong argument that they are collectively important as they represent one of the few remaining parts of the old Cardiff's town centre. This is important both in and of itself, to preserve some of our history (hence the moves to make the street a Conservation area) but also in terms of the fact that the character and scale of the buildings are perfectly suited to exactly the sort of interesting small businesses that currently occupy them.
2. The second issue is that three thriving businesses are quite probably going to be destroyed at the will of a land owner with little to no track record of delivering high quality development.
Just look at the state of each of the sites owned by the Rapports and you can see how much they (don’t) care about contributing to the character and vibrancy of Cardiff. The Rapport building itself is in pretty poor condition and the surface car park next to it (which I believe they also own) actively detracts from the character of both Churchill Way and David Street. The same is true of the NCP car park that they own on Adam Street, which plays a key role in creating a windswept and depressing entry point to the city centre. It should also be noted that they wilfully destroyed a historic and characterful pub (The Vulcan), on Adam Street, to facilitate another development (that never actually materialised) a few years ago.
Madeira, the Thai House and Gwdihw are all much loved local businesses which bring something unique to the area and I’m deeply saddened by the idea of all three of them being bulldozed into oblivion.
In terms of Gwdihw, Frank, I think it needs to be stressed that this is not at all the sort of venue that caters for stag and hen parties and neither is it something that could ever be recreated in Whitchurch or any other suburb. It is a quirky, interesting venue that supports live music and up and coming local artists of various genres. They also sell local beer, brewed at Pipes Brewery. Sure it might be possible for them to find another venue in the city centre but it just seems a real shame that they are being forced to do so.
3. The third issue is the question of what is likely to be built, if the site is redeveloped? Answer: probably something that is architecturally inferior, of a character that does not reflect the surrounding buildings and will contribute nothing or very little in terms of active street level uses. Seriously, given the nature of the area, what is the best that we can hope for from Rapports here? Probably a mid-rise private student flats development built from cheap materials, that will have next to zero engagement with the street. Great! Just great!
The more I think about it the more I hope that the Council gets of its backside and introduces a conservation area policy for the street, immediately, to put a stop to this.