Demolition (From Penarth Times)

Demolition

IN reply to Gordon Bell"s letter (Penarth Times, July 7), the people of Penarth need to know that the planning application for the demolition of Beachcliff was recommended for refusal by the planning officers of the Council on April 11 for the following reasons:

"The design of the replacement structure fell short of what we considered to be an appropriate design quality for the site."

"The proposal was considered to be out of scale and would represent an overdevelopment of the site, and together with the poor architectural quality of the proposed new building, would be inappropriate in this part of the Conservation Area."

Our Chief Planning Officer has said this key building is viable, and the Save Our Seafront campaign wants it retained and refurbished.

No-one in Penarth wants to see it deteriorate further in its boarded-up state with the whole of the seafront "on hold" and neglected.

Surely some of the profit from the Old Baths development could be used to refurbish Beachcliff, because if it is demolished, Penarth will have lost its unique seafront heritage and will become just another extension of Cardiff Bay.

We should also back our Chief Planning Officer in his objection to losing half the public highway to the proposed new cafe and in his concerns that an underground car park could result in flooding.

Perhaps we could have a decent bus service from the front instead of more cars.

Margaret Phelps