Former pub to make way for affordable flats

THE future of a Cardiff pub has finally been decided years after a campaign was launched to save it from closure.

The former Bulldog pub, previously run by Fairwater Rugby Club, has been empty for about three years and earmarked for closure for even longer.

But now Cardiff council, which owns the site, has finally decided the fate of the pub which has been in the area since the 1960s.

The council has decided to demolish the pub and build between 20 and 30 affordable flats.

It forms part of the local authority’s plans to build 2,000 new council homes to meet growing demand for social housing in the city.

Councillors have until Wednesday to “call in” the decision to be reconsidered.

Fairwater councillor Keith Parry welcomed the decision.

He said: “The problem is I don’t think it was viable as a pub. The rugby club had it for a time but I don’t think they were able to make a financial success of it.

“We do welcome more housing. One of our biggest problems is the amount of people on the housing list.”

In 2014 a petition was launched to save the pub from being developed into a Morrisons convenience store. The plans were eventually dropped.

The Bulldog had been let to Brains Brewery but the council has now taken over the site and allocated the land for a new social housing development.

A planning application to demolish the pub has already been submitted.

Cardiff council plans to build 2,000 new council homes in the city, with 1,000 of these being completed by 2022.

The council is also working with national housing developer Wates Residential to deliver 600 of the homes to be completed by 2022, and is also buying property from the open market, converting existing buildings into housing, and entering into package deals whereby new properties are bought straight from a developer.

Work is also underway to identify council-owned land for housing developments for the second phase of the programme to take the total to 2,000 homes.

A council spokesman said: “A decision to appropriate the former Bulldog public house and associated land in Fairwater to the Housing Revenue Account for social housing development has now been taken, subject to call-in, which will enable the council to develop the property to deliver much-need new homes in this area of high demand for social rented housing.”