Letter of objection from Mr Rees aged 84

To: mamorris@cardiff.gov.uk
Cc: arobson@cardiff.gov.uk ; jcowan@cardiff.gov.uk
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 10:34 PM

Subject: Objection to change of usage and redevelopment of Pantmawr Inn site
Mr. Morris

I am writing to submit a strong objection to the change of usage and redevelopment of Pantmawr Inn site.

When the Pantmawr estate was built in the 1950s, the planners were, by circumstance, ahead of the current environmental thinking. They ensured bus services, local shops (now sadly all gone) and a social amenity in the heritage buildings were provided to meet the needs of the estate residents without the need for car journeys. Global warming is clearly, in the very near future, going to drive us back to this type of more localised amenity planning. In the Pantmawr Inn, chosen as the preferred social amenity by estate residents in the 1950s, you already have the sort of localised amenity that future planning will strive to revive. This is the opportunity for the planning of Cardiff to be environmentally forward thinking and community aware by REJECTING the redevelopment.

There are four main detailed points to consider:

1. Traffic density, narrow and inadequate access roads make the site totally unsuitable for the plans
2. Removal will lead to more traffic as residents are forced to travel to distant alternatives.
3. I am 85 and my friends and I like many other estate residents frequent the Inn on a regular basis, several times a week. It is our ONLY local social amenity, it is the focus of our community (we have no local shops or other facilities left) and it would be a major loss were it to go.
4. It is surprising to me that the building has never been given a heritage designation, the question should be asked why not?

I look forward to common sense prevailing and this totally inappropriate change of usage and planning application being REJECTED.

Yours sincerely

Mr. E. J. Rees
C'aer Wenallt
Pantmawr,