6. Debate on petition P-05-949 Save Cowbridge Old Girls' School from Demolition

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:37 pm on 16 February 2022.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 4:37, 16 February 2022

Thank you. Can I first of all thank all those Members who have spoken in this debate this afternoon, and for highlighting the strength of feeling towards this former school? And I do understand the strength of feeling that has been expressed, and I've had a similar issue myself, in my own constituency, with the Hoover building, which is hugely important to Merthyr Tydfil for all the reasons that anybody who knows about the history of Merthyr Tydfil will understand. But that's never been listed for all the reasons that I'll come on to now.

So, I do fully acknowledge the historical interest of the school, and I agree it will be a huge shame to see it demolished. However, to be listed by the Welsh Government, a building must demonstrate architectural and historic qualities of national significance. So, it has to meet both those criteria, as set out in that national listing criteria. This building has effectively been assessed against the listing criteria three times: first, as part of the national community listing resurvey of Cowbridge in 1999, then by Cadw historic buildings specialists in response to a request in 2018, and again by an independent expert in 2020. The later assessments included the careful scrutiny of all the evidence provided by the campaigners. The conclusion was that, unfortunately, the criteria are not met in this instance. The assessment—[Interruption].