Berman "Vulcan didn't meet criteria for protection"

I refer to your email dated 12th November 2008. Your email, whilst raising several points which I answer below, also contains some inaccuracies.

Whilst I note your position in terms of preserving the Vulcan I should point out that the site on which the pub stands is owned by a private company which is not the St David's 2 Partnership and is leased to SA Brain. The site is not part of any land the Council either owns or is responsible for.

I can confirm that the Vulcan is not listed as being of architectural or historic interest, and did not meet the criteria for protection during the most recent review of listed buildings in Adamsdown undertaken by Cadw in July 1997. Neither is the building within a ‘conservation area’ or on the Council’s own local list of buildings of merit, and so in effect it does not enjoy any statutory protection or benefit from any planning policies which would indicate its preservation.

The Vulcan Pub was included within the Compulsory Purchase Order made by the now dissolved Welsh Development Agency for the St David's 2 development for temporary car parking during the period covering the redevelopment of the city centre. Following consultation and agreement the pub has in fact been left standing during the current redevelopment.

The future of the site is in the hands of the owners of the land and the brewers and, as I have already indicated, is not the responsibility of the Council save for its role as planning authority. You are of course fully at liberty to submit objections to any planning applications for the site.

You are not correct in your statement regarding officer responsibilities within the Council. The project manager for St David's 2 is not the same person who is leading the bridge project in Bute Park. These are two totally separate developments with separate project managers and teams. Also the Council already has a city centre manager and team that manage the city centre operationally, and there are no plans presently to change this management structure.

As to your implication that the Council is destroying the heritage of Wales not protecting it, Cardiff is seen as one of the most attractive and dynamic cities in the UK. Part of this can be directly attributable to Council policies for development in the city and civic centres and the sensitive and responsible approach taken in regard to the Castle refurbishment and new build, and that of its parklands.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Rodney Berman
Leader of Cardiff Council