Old Pennar School - Response to Request for Listing.

Hello All!
I have finally received a reply to my request to CADW to review the listing status of Old Pennar school.

The first part of the email is my response to their decision, which is printed in full below.

Start.

Dear Rhodri
Many thanks for the reply to my request for a review of the listing of Old Pennar School. I am disappointed by this reply. This will clearly make Pennar a "free fire" zone for developers and dramatically erode the sense of place and community within this ward of Pembroke Dock and add to the disenchantment and sense of abandonment amongst the residents.
The scheme whereby Pembrokeshire County Council is able to determine local listing is, quite frankly, nonsense. They are already the property owners and the arbiters of planning decisions. Such an arrangement is both lacking in transparency and open to abuse. The Welsh Government is short sighted and abdicating its responsibilities if it allows this policy to continue.
I will now try and find out what is to happen to the good quality limestone from the demolition or the roofing material. Will PCC have the sense to claim it for work in renovating properties in the local conservation area? I doubt it.
Still no listed buildings in Pennar.
Best wishes
Adrian
Www.saveoldpennarschool.blogspot.com
PS. I have identified another property in PD that may be worthy of Grade II listing, having compared its interior to the original building drawings, of which I have copies, it is virtually untouched. C.1900. I shall be in touch.

Sent from my Windows Phone so apologies for typos.
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From: Rhodri.Kelly@Wales.GSI.Gov.UK
Sent: ‎28/‎08/‎2015 14:13
To: adriantajames@hotmail.com
Subject: Old Pennar School, pembroke Dock

Dear Mr James,

Thank you for your emails asking Cadw to consider Old Pennar School, Pembroke Dock for listing, and for the information provided in support of this request.  I am sorry that I have not been able to reply to you sooner.

As explained in the email dated 30 April which was issued by my colleague, Tina Moverley, the school would have been looked at for listing in 1994 when Cadw resurveyed the entire Pembroke Dock community for historic buildings.  Pembroke Dock is a relatively intensive area for listing and we are confident that the fieldwork included the locality of Pennar, and that the school was seen, given its building type and location, but rejected as it did not meet the published strict criteria for listing.  Cadw’s Historic Buildings Inspector has carefully reconsidered the case for listing in light of your request and the information you have kindly provided, but has advised that there is nothing to suggest that the building’s significance was overlooked previously.

We acknowledge that the building has some historic interest as an early board school and there are some points of architectural interest (the stone detailing to the exterior, the roof structure where visible and the one surviving fireplace).  However, it has been altered through historic extensions and later changes such as the plastic windows, internal boarding and removal of features and as a result of these alterations, is no longer considered to be a good example of its type. There are better examples of early schools and those that are listed set the benchmark against which new candidate buildings are assessed.  In this instance, there are comparable buildings that are more architecturally distinguished at the national level and listed as being better examples of this building type with exceptional architectural character.  For example:

Former Church School, St Davids.  1873 former National or Church School.
Former Capel Dewi School, Llanarthney.  Listed as a well-preserved and good example of an 1870-Education-Act village school.
Barham Memorial School, Trecwn.  Included as a well-designed and executed later Victorian school, with advanced architectural detail unusual for the period.
Cwmbach County Primary School, Whitland.  Included as a little-altered C19 primary school building, of group value with the chapel adjoining.

You should also be aware that listing is not intended to be a preservation order or a block on development, but rather a planning marker designed to sympathetically manage change in historically and architecturally important properties.

I appreciate that the absence of a statutory listing will be disappointing to you, but as the strict criteria for listing are not met, there is no basis on which to list.  The option of local listing is available to a local planning authority and while local listing in itself does not protect such buildings from demolition, it can be a material consideration in the planning process. You may wish to take this up with Pembrokeshire County Council.


Kind Regards,
Rhodri Kelly


Rhodri Kelly
Gwasanaeth Amgylchedd Hanesyddol (Cadw) / Historic Environment Service (Cadw)
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
                                                                                                                                       
Ffôn / Tel: (01443) 336003
Ffacs / Fax: (01443) 336001
E-bost: kellyr@cymru.gsi.gov.uk / E-mail: kellyr@wales.gsi.gov.uk

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