Historic area could vanish if demolition goes ahead
MUCH-LOVED Cardiff music venue Gwdihw is closing in January after it was revealed that its landlords are not renewing the lease because they want to demolish the entire block.
The application has gone in to Cardiff council while the local authority is consulting on a proposal to give the area conservation status to protect it.
It is not yet known whether the demolition application will be able to go through Cardiff’s planning processes before the council can official give the street Conservation Area protected status.
Two long-established city restaurants – Thai House and Madeira – are both also in the same block and are also being forced out.
The landowner is a firm called Rapports which owns a significant amount of property in the city centre. The application says the plan is to demolish the existing buildings “ready for redevelopment to commence”.
The neighbouring grade II-listed Masonic Hall which neighbours the site will not be affected.
Cardiff council last month launched a consultation to make the crescent a conservation area. It would give the council the power to refuse demolition, alterations or development. At the time, the council said it was “important to preserve the city’s heritage”.
It is understood the consultation has now finished and Cardiff council is considering the responses.
Gwdihw’s owners issued a statement on social media which read: “It is with a heavy heart we announce that we’ll be closing our doors on Guildford Crescent at the end of January.
“Our landlords have taken the decision not to renew our lease – despite, or perhaps because of the Cardiff council proposal to grant Guildford Crescent protected conservation area status – and so on 30th January we have to leave.
“We’d like to thank everyone who’s made Gwdihw such an incredibly special place to be over the past 10 years.
“Finally, a massive thank you to all our staff and customers past and present. Truly, the best thing about Gwdihw is how much of a family it is and we are so lucky to have had such friendly and supportive people be a part of the family.
“However, this isn’t the end for us. We’re looking to carry the Gwdihw name into 2019 so we urge anyone who might be able to offer a space or contribute in any way to get in touch via social media or by email to info@ gwdihw.co.uk”
A year ago Cardiff council announced it would be working on developing a music strategy for the city with global music development agency Sound Diplomacy, which aims to place music at the heart of the city’s future.
The owner of The Thai House, which is the oldest Thai restaurant in the UK, says she is heartbroken about the news.
The restaurant was opened in 1985 by Noi Ramasut from Bangkok and his Welsh wife Arlene Thomas. Their daughter Tamsin Ramasut, who now owns the restaurant, says the familyrun business is thriving, but come the end of January they will be homeless, leaving staff facing an uncertain future.
“It’s really tough,” she said. “We’ve been told we will have to close in the new year and vacate the premises by the end of January. We’ve been at Guildford Crescent for more than 20 years and in the city for 33 years.”
She said the area around Guildford Crescent was run down when they moved in and the restaurant and neighbouring businesses have regenerated the area.
“The building was derelict when we took it on,” she said. “My father helped regenerate that whole corner when he opened there. We spent a lot of our own money investing in the business and alongside Madeira and Gwdihw, we have brought that corner of Cardiff back to life.”
She said that despite protestations to the landlord that their business was thriving, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Now all of the 40 staff that Tamsin calls “her family” don’t know whether they will have a job come the new year. We’ve had to tell our staff, many of them who have been with us for a long time, their jobs are in jeopardy.”
She added: “We haven’t anywhere to relocate to. We’ve been looking, but it’s tricky to find somewhere suitable for an independent business in the city centre. What gives a city its character is its independent businesses. You take them out of the city and what are you left with? A city that looks like everywhere else.”