AS the name suggests, a civic society is a group of people working together for the benefit of their town, forming a bastion against the developer interested only in making a profit. Penarth, especially, is in need of protection against such speculators.

We see what has happened in our prime conservation area: where we once had small villas and open spaces along the sea front we now have apartment blocks. The Victorian Baths once standing out proudly against a parkland setting is now practically obscured from view amidst an intrusive backdrop. But the Penarth Society was at least able to get the building listed at the last minute and save it from demolition.

The same spirit has been shown again by another group in the town who came together to refurbish the Pier Pavilion. Where once pigeons flew in and out of broken windows and paint peeled we now have a landmark building instrumental in achieving a Pier of the Year Award for Penarth.

Any town on the coast is naturally proud of its seafront. Bexhill-on-Sea was able to win the services of a noted German architect Erich Mendelsohn in 1934 to design the iconic De la Warr Pavilion stretching along the esplanade and now attracting visitors from across the world.

Could our own Pavilion perhaps look to a similar future? Incidentally, Mendelsohn later went on to fight in the Second World War while at the end of the war the British architect Norman Foster was instrumental in rebuilding the German Bundestag in Berlin. So good architecture can cross international barriers.

Penarth has largely retained its Victorian/Edwardian character which must be protected. We welcome sympathetic refurbishment of original buildings which have become part of the townscape and accept this will often entail change of use.

However, a town must be allowed to evolve and we should be prepared to accept the best of the architecture of today. This is how a town will flourish.

So a civic society can be instrumental in effecting changes for the better by keeping a close watch for building applications and by careful scrutiny of plans.

In 2000, the Penarth Society and Penarth History Society were asked by the Penarth Town Council to mount a Millennium Exhibition at the Paget Rooms. Following this the Council allocated a room at the Kymin for the Penarth Society to store their exhibition material.

This material has recently been removed to a room in South Lodge, kindly made available to the Society by the Vale of Glamorgan Council and is currently being sorted to allow visitors to see the archives first-hand.

This will show the history of the town and its people and give a fuller picture of our local heritage.

So when we ask do we really need a civic society in Penarth we’ll leave you to decide on the answer.

Audrey Poole

Penarth