Demolition of The Paddle Steamer confirmed by a casting vote
THE Paddle Steamer cafe will be demolished to make way for 28 council houses, Cardiff council’s planning committee confirmed this week.
Chair of the committee, Keith Jones, used his casting vote against a motion to defer the demolition, and turn down a request to include a cafe space in the new block.
Campaigners against the development have expressed their disappointment.
A spokesperson for the organisation Reclaim Cardiff said: “The result is hugely controversial as well as disappointing, given that a motion to defer was defeated by the second vote of the chair, who used his privilege to push through this deeply unpopular development – a chair appointed by the Labour group itself.
“The question is whether (council leader) Huw Thomas is going to show sufficient backbone and concern for the people of the city, or whether he will continue in leading a council that serves developers’ interests instead.”
A member of social media group, Butetown Matters, said: “We are going to explore all the options and hope to convince the council to do the right thing. There was an opportunity to defer the application and that was a missed opportunity there and then to take it back to the drawing board and add the cafe space at the bottom.”
Saeed Ebrahim, the councillor for Butetown, supports the development.
He says that groups that meet at The Paddle Steamer could use other community facilities such as the Butetown Youth Pavilion.
Located in Loudon Square, The Paddle Steamer has been an iconic Butetown facility for Somali and Yemeni communities since the 1960s.
Butetown has a high demand for social housing, with many people on the waiting list.
Daoud Salaman, chair of South Wales Islamic Community, said he knows the area well and the cafe had a “strong connection” to the Butetown community.
A council spokesperson said: The Paddle Steamer building is privately owned and the future of the building is not in the control of the council.
“The Council welcomes the potential development of more affordable accommodation in Butetown to meet the needs of local people for good quality homes.
“We remain committed to improving the lives of Butetown residents and continue to invest in the area for the benefit of the local community, with planned improvements in sports facilities in Canal Park, investment in schools for local children and multiple council house building schemes in the area, to reference a few examples.”
A date is yet to be given for the building of the proposed development.
