Cardiff council will not take action against developers who knocked down Guildford Crescent without permission

Cardiff council will not take enforcement action against developers for knocking down the facade of a historic Cardiff building without planning permission. Members of Cardiff Council’s planning committee said they were disappointed that GT Guildford Crescent Limited went against the council’s advice and demolished the facade of Guildford Crescent last year.

However, they still approved the plans the developer initially made to carry out the act at a meeting on Thursday, July 11. Cardiff Council argued that the most appropriate form of action that could be taken, requiring the developers to rebuild the 19th century facade, was something that had already been proposed as part of the approved application.

Councillor Adrian Robson, a member of the council’s planning committee, said: “This has the potential to become our version of the Crooked House… with the way in which, unfortunately, the developer has decided to demolish the facade against the advice of the officer. I think the comment that it is disappointing is too mild a word to use… and I also agree with Councillor Shimmin and others that the suggestion that council officers did not act on this and let it happen is unfair because of the actions of the developers.” For more Cardiff news, sign up to our newsletter here.

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He added: “I agree the application is a good one. It rebuilds the façade, so I will support the application today, but it is very frustrating that we are in this position.” Cllr Robson later added that he hoped the council’s decision would not be taken as a precedent going forward. Cardiff Council’s operational manager for strategic development management and placemaking, Steve Ball, said: “This will not be a precedent.

“That doesn’t justify people going out and demolishing things that they shouldn’t. What I would say is that out of this process members will know that the stronger, fairer, greener principle behind protecting the city’s heritage… and the potential for article 4 directions to be put on buildings, which we have done for a number of buildings in the city recently, gives us… the capacity for some of the additional planning controls going forward.”

GT Guildford Crescent Limited applied to have the remains of 1-6 Guildford Crescent demolished by August 2023 because it believed they were no longer structurally safe. Shortly afterwards, on 5 September, Cardiff Council was informed that the facade had been demolished – a move it said was in breach of planning rules – and the developer was ordered to cease work.

The site of 1-6 Guildford Crescent will eventually house a new 30-storey block of flats as part of the wider scheme. Another member of the council’s planning committee, councillor Jon Shimmin, expressed “dismay” at the developer not following the advice of planning officers, adding: “It has brought the council into a bad light, I think, in a way that is unfair to the officers.”

Councillor Garry Hunt said: “It was part of Cardiff and part of the city and that’s what’s disappointing… it’s the fact that it was destroyed unnecessarily and I think it’s a shame.” Following her colleagues, councillor Emma Reid-Jones said: “In this particular case, there are no consequences for the action to knock down Guildford Crescent. It’s disappointing, it’s unfortunate. We are where we are. We need to move on, but I’m very disappointed.”