TO RECAP . . .
This is in the form of an update, following further information, doing a bit more research, and generally just thinking about what we’re dealing with. If you haven’t read the original piece I suggest you do so now, it’ll help you make sense of this offering.
The big picture – so we’re told – is that on 1 February Paul Steven Williams and his wife Rowena Claire Williams sold off their assets in Powys, Herefordshire, Cornwall and God knows where else to focus on the properties they’d acquired around Caernarfon.
Among those assets was the Radnorshire Arms Hotel in Presteigne, bought in August 2015 for £3,487,049.
The vendor was Rowena Claire Williams and the buyer was Leisure and Development Ltd, a company she’d set up with her husband just a few months earlier. In effect, they’d ‘bought’ a property they already owned at what most agree was a greatly inflated price.
Which posits the obvious question: who did the valuation?
But it wasn’t just the Radnorshire Arms that was sold/bought.
There was also the Knighton Hotel, in the town of that name. (Though formerly known as The Norton Hotel.) The title document tells us that this was sold for £2,881,599, which would seem to be a fair price for a substantial hotel (everything apart from the ground floor on the extreme right of the picture below).
The problem, as with the Radnorshire Arms in Presteigne, is that Paul and Rowena Williams already owned the building, and so once again they ‘sold’ it to themselves in the form of Leisure and Development Ltd.
The third example is the Castle Inn in Wigmore, near Leominster. (Formerly known as The Compasses.) Here again, the title document tells us that the transaction was done “between (1) Paul Steven Williams and Rowena Claire Williams and (2) Leisure & Development Limited”. And the sum mentioned is £1,269,720.
As with the other ‘purchases’, money came from the NatWest Bank. The same pattern and chronology as with the Radnorshire Arms in Presteigne, the Knighton Hotel, and other properties. Also, two changes of name during the ownership of Paul and Rowena Williams.
It seems to me that the purchasing of the Williamses’ property portfolio in 2015 boils down to three possibilities:
1/ Transferring property from themselves to their company, yet pretending they’d bought it from a third party and taking out mortgages or loans to purchase the property, is perfectly legitimate.
2/ What they did amounts to mortgage fraud. In which case the lenders must be informed. Though if this is the case, why wasn’t it noticed by Paul and Rowena Williams’ solicitors who dealt with these non-sales, Beaumonts Solicitors of Hereford?
3/ If these non-sales were illegal, and everyone involved knew they were illegal, then we’re dealing with a major crime.
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ENTER KEITH HARVEY PARTRIDGE, THE MONEY MAN
To believe the Williamses – or Rowena Williams, who often does the talking for them both – all these assets bought in 2015 were sold on 1 February 2018 for approximately £10 million pounds to convicted fraudster Keith Harvey Partridge. But were they really sold?
It’s an important question because Partridge (or ‘Partdridge’) certainly became the “Person with Significant Control” over Leisure and Development Ltd on 1 February. Then on 22 April he was introduced to the staff at the Radnorshire Arms as the new owner and told them that their hotel, and others, would be closed for 8 – 10 weeks for refurbishment and ‘re-branding’. After which they’d be able to apply for their old jobs.
Now if it’s true that Partridge became the owner of these properties on 1 February then the loans or second mortgages taken out with Together Commercial Finance Ltd of Cheadle after that date are his.
But of course there is an alternative interpretation, which might run thus . . . Needing to raise more money, but knowing they’ll experience difficulty raising it themselves, Paul and Rowena Williams go through the charade of ‘selling’ their property empire to Partridge.
Partridge approaches Together Commercial Finance, saying, ‘I need loans to buy all these properties from Paul and Rowena Williams’. The lender sits him down, pours him a drink, and says, ‘Delighted to help, Mr Partridge – how much do you want?’, then hands over the lolly. Partridge takes his cut, plays his role as the new owner, and everybody’s happy . . . except of course the dozens of people who’ve just lost their jobs.
In an attempt to give substance to this charade paperwork is submitted to Companies House saying that Partridge is now the head honcho. But as yet, nothing has been filed with the Land Registry to tell us that ownership of the properties allegedly sold to him have actually been transferred to Keith Harvey Partridge.
Though it might also be worth mentioning that Paul and Rowena Williams were themselves dealing with Together Commercial Finance before Partridge – apparently – appeared on the scene. This report about Plas Glynllifon from the Daily Post of 22 February 2017 tells us, “They . . . have agreed a finance package with Together in Manchester. They are also in talks with the Welsh Government about grant support.”
This “finance package” was presumably for Plas Glynllifon. But surely they didn’t need it after Partridge came to the rescue with his £10m buyout?
Or am I wrong for thinking that more money has been raised by various means – much more – than has or will ever be spent on Plas Glynllifon and the other projects.
Incidentally, Rowena Williams insists that she hardly knows Partridge, having met him just once. Yet I am reliably informed that he stayed at the Radnorshire Arms a number of times when they were running it. I’m also told that female staff found him “unpleasant”.
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INTRODUCING RIKKI, THE RUGBY FAN. BLESS!
Another reason I have my doubts about Partridge’s real role is due to the situation at Seiont Manor. We know it’s owned by Paul and Rowena Williams yet the entry on the Companies House website tells us that the sole director for Seiont Manor Hotel Ltd is Rikki John Reynolds. Sole director usually indicates owner, but not in this case.
Rikki John Reynolds – erstwhile manager at the Chang Thai Bar and Restaurant in Ludlow – is simply fronting for Paul and Rowena Williams. It could well be the same with Partridge. It begins to remind me of the wonderful ‘buffers’ scene from the Godfather.
Staying with Rikki John Reynolds for a minute, I received an interesting comment to my previous post, and the comment read:
“Myself and 2 other night porters were laid off by Paul and rowena on purchasing Seiont Manor hotel. When I spoke with one director he Rikki Reynolds said our jobs are safe days later we got our marching orders.
May I also add there does seem to be a massive amount of directors in the company. Every manager was pushed to be directors. I belive you don’t pay as much tax to directors. I can confirm the kitchen porter who has disabilities was unfairly dismissed. Meetings were had with him by Rrl telling him what he should do. Manipulating him!
The maintenance manager was fired because he took a authorised holiday.
They also started knocking down walls in a grade 2 listed building which was occupied by some very rare bats prior to planning consent in the grounds of Seiont Manor
That’s just for starters….”
The bit about “Every manager was pushed to be directors” might not only explain Reynolds’ position at Seiont Manor Hotel Ltd but also chimes with something else I was told about employees of Paul and Rowena Williams being registered with Companies House as directors without their knowledge. This perhaps explains the lengthy list of directors at Leisure and Development Ltd in the company’s short life.
I’m fairly sure it’s illegal to register someone as a director with Companies House without their consent.
Quite a number of these directors at Leisure and Development have their address at the Knighton Hotel, including a Frenchman and a Romanian. No less than ten of the directors ‘resigned’ on 1 February 2018 (including Rowena Claire Williams and Plas Glynllifon Ltd), the same day Partridge and Sukhbinder Singh Heer became directors, making up a trio with Paul Steven Williams.
Which throws up another curiosity. We are asked to believe that on 1 February Paul and Rowena Williams sold Leisure and Development Ltd and the properties the company owned to Keith Partridge, so why is Paul Williams still a director of a company we’re told he’s sold?
And who is the latest addition to the board, Sukhbinder Singh Heer, and how does he fit into the picture? Answers on the proverbial post card please.
I know Heer was a non-executive director at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust. Interestingly, perhaps, Rowena Williams was involved with Age Concern Birmingham, and Partridge has also dabbled in that market with Coast to Coast Care Ltd.
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THE MANCHESTER DIGRESSION
One thing that struck me as I trawled through news reports and official documents was that Manchester kept cropping up.
For example, the loans or mortgages that Paul and Rowena Williams took out to buy the properties in 2015 were with the NatWest Bank plc at Hardman Boulevard in central Manchester. The loans or second mortgages taken out in 2017 and 2018 were with Together Commercial Finance Ltd of Cheadle.
This report from the Daily Post of August 2015 tells us that the sale of Glynllifon was being handled by “David Currie of David Currie and Co”. I couldn’t find a company of that name, but I did find a David Currie listed with Winterhill Largo Property Ltd. The liquidation process for this company started soon after the report I’ve linked to. The liquidators were based at 3 Hardman Street in Manchester, just the other side of Hardman Square from Hardman Boulevard, where we found NatWest.
Currie has had a number of property companies. There’s Broad Tree Management Ltd, which has interesting paperwork attached to it. Then there’s David Currie Ltd, which is dormant. Next there’s D. Currie Consultancy Ltd, which is at least alive, but barely. There are also others that have fallen by the wayside.
How did this real-life Ol’ Gil (from the Simpsons) get the Glynllifon gig? This report from the Daily Post dated 10 June 2016 mentions “agent Lambert Smith Hampton”, which I know is a major company, but it too has an office in Manchester . . . in fact, at 3 Hardman Street, the same building as the liquidators for David Currie’s company Winterhill Largo Property Ltd.
And then of course we have the report I linked to earlier, telling us that Williams was dealing with Together Commercial Finance in February 2017, making it reasonable to assume that these negotiations started in 2016. But did he find them, or did they find him?
I mention these Manchester connections because people in the same line of work, or linked industries, often know each other. I can imagine the word spreading in the city’s finance-property sector about a ‘big mansion in North Wales’ and the desperate need to find and fund a buyer – any buyer!
Perhaps the desperation was due to recent bad publicity over the ‘Wynnborn’ bollocks leading to official and governmental bodies ready to accept any buyer, with few questions asked.
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NEWS FROM THE FRONT (AND THE BACK)
We are now asked to believe that Paul and Rowena Williams have moved to Caernarfon and are devoting all their energies and talents to their acquisitions in that area. The truth may be rather different.
To begin with, they have an exclusive residence just over the border from Powys. Two children attend a private (day) school in Hereford. They maintain a flat at the Knighton Hotel, and are regular visitors to the properties they’ve ‘sold’ to Partridge, often seen taking yet more stuff away. Rowena Williams was at the Radnorshire Arms yesterday loading stuff into her car.
This, remember, is a property she and hubby are supposed to have sold over four months ago!
Talking of which, I’m told that when Paul Williams was complimented on the antiques and collectibles he’s piled up at Glynllifon, he explained that he has “agents all over the world” looking out for interesting pieces for him.
Can’t you see it! a global network of antiques experts working for Paul Williams; Paris, New York, Milan, St Petersburg, Barcelona, Cairo, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Shanghai . . . . Oh, yes, that must be the explanation.
Now I hear that a petition is being circulated, and enthusiastically signed, by residents of Presteigne and other communities, demanding that politicians and others find out what the hell is happening to all the properties once owned by Paul and Rowena Williams, properties that were ostensibly sold to Keith Harvey Partridge, properties that were supposedly closed for refurbishment on 16 April for 8 – 10 weeks but ain’t seen hide nor hair of any workman to carry out the promised refurbishment.
It’s almost as if, once the buildings have been milked for the money, they become surplus to requirements.
And yet, the irony must be that it was the closure of the hotels, and their treatment of the staff, that drew attention to Paul and Rowena Williams, Partridge and the rest of the gang. It’s certainly why I got involved. If they’d just kept the hotels open they might have got away with it.
There’s a lesson there for all of us . . . especially those perpetrating mortgage fraud and property scams.
∼
WHERE’S OUR MONEY?
One reason for asking that question is that Williams has told people in Caernarfon that he now owns four hotels in the area but plans to soon have eight. Lucky Caernarfon!
Also, I know that the Radnorshire Arms and the Knighton Hotel have received six-figure sums from the ‘Welsh’ Government, hundreds of thousands of pounds has been suggested. Now they lie empty and derelict, the staff laid off and the small communities in which they sit suffering as a result.
And what of Cyngor Gwynedd? Is it reasonable to assume that after the ‘Wynnborn’ fiasco they were so glad to find another buyer that they went along with Paul Williams without checking on what sort of a character he was? A few seconds Googling would have turned this up.
Come to that, who actually owns Plas Glynllifon, because I can find nothing on the Land Registry website. I’m told that the ownership is ‘complicated’, but surely it’s not a state secret. Have the Williamses really bought it?
The callous behaviour of this gang has has already affected the lives of dozens of people and damaged communities. To help those they claim to represent the ‘Welsh’ Government, Cyngor Gwynedd, Powys council, and other public bodies, must recover all public money given to this gang and, if possible, find buyers who will re-open the Radnorshire Arms and the other establishments.
But a start must be made today, by henceforth adhering to Uncle Jac’s Golden Rule – Not a penny more!
Then we need explanations for why things were allowed to go so far. A little openness and honesty is required, even if it does cause embarrassment in official circles. And if, as so many believe, criminal offences have been committed, then legal action must begin.
This can also start today.
♦ end ♦
Walesandwest housing Cardiff bought thee new houses in high street ruabon off the crown estates from the wrong company owners they paid 21700 for house worth 600 k stating the houses were abandoned derelict eyesores this scam has got worse they demolished the lit this week not tellin the solicitors who wrote and explain they don’t own them this bitumen con has sunk walesandwest housing Cardiff they wrote saying we won’t reply to letters claiming ownership pity for them the builders have all the receipts and affidavits from the workers that built them and bank statements proving whom payed to build them they got a gray of a million pounds from Welsh gov saying I’m the press its only 585 k freedom of information reques to Welsh gov said no money was given to anyone now there director Shawnee hembrow wrote this week excited to build four small homes there no mention of the big losers the owners Petton construction a partner ship of two wealthy local gents that wLesandwest think are skint fools can you look into this debacle it’s a good scam as it gets in Wales you say walesandwest are crooks in all your blogs include this horror story read the press Wrexham dot come see the heart break pulling down three mews house that were better than any thing in ruabon high street Welsh labour not for profit Anne bin hey rules wonder what she would say if here house was destroyed without buying it first may be she has lessons to learn mess with fire you could get stung ha orbs north wereRt thou London king for stories beat this one the story is ilocal lawyers were used to make claim he just took the cash did nothing he’s Welsh his reviews stink on the web site poooooo walesandwest Cardiff watch this space
This is the trouble, unfortunately. The Williamses gang seem to be involved in so many transgressions against the laws of the land that nobody has had the “cojones” to take them on. Williams seems to get his kicks in life from flouting Authority.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It should be the MP and the AS taking the lead here. Asking the appropriate questions in Parliament and the Senedd. Using their clout to stir the police / HMRC/fraud squad, local planners, to get off their backsides and DO SOMETHING!!
To be honest, I don’t have much faith in them.
Has anyone made an official allegation against any these people? Why are they not being investigated by a range of statutory authorities if what they are doing is illegal?
Have North Wales Police been informed?
Dai
Hope Cyngor Gwynedd are levying the correct Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates on Glynllifon
Also hope HMRC are keeping a close eye on the payroll there.
I worked at the Radnorshire Arms – wonderful place before these monsters took over. Really can’t believe it took the authorities so long to find out that these Williams people are confidence tricksters. They took out a period window from the building and didn’t have to restore it! They play the game by saying it would cost too much, have not got the financial resources so will lay off staff if forced to replace the window… We were all paid by cash for wages (previously paid into bank account). Thoroughly nasty bits of work – all of them including the extended family who worked there also. A bit of excitement occurred one day when some “heavies” came looking for them – apparently they were owed money! We hoped they would sort them out. They owed suppliers money constantly.
I can believe these councils give them money because I’ve come across this sort of thing before in a different context. They have a fudiciary responsibility to spend our money wisely but alas this does not happen.
They were also failing in their legal duty to enforce the owners to replace the window, and seem in effect to have been blackmailed by threats of redundancies into turning a blind eye. Pathetic!
Pity those who have suffered under the Williams Gang and lost their jobs in Presteigne could not write as a united body to the Daily Post so that we in Caernarfon can share their experiences.
And is HMRC aware that wages were paid in cash?
Followers of BBC News will no doubt have seen this article and noted the speed of inflation in the renovation business. Now £20m.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-44633352/lions-and-luxury-restoring-plas-glynllifon-mansion
Big figures for people up to their eyeballs in debt.
Returning to Glynllifon, I’ve been told today that the Welsh Government and Cyngor Gwynedd doled out hundreds of thousands to the previous “developers”. Anyone the wiser?
I suspect the previous owner was Glynllifon Ltd, which was finally put out of its misery a year ago after receivers were called in 2013.
Check under the ‘Charges’ tab and you’ll see that Glynllifon Ltd received money from both the council and the old WDA.
I shall be looking into the ownership and current status of Glynllifon in my nest post, out tomorrow or Friday.
I hope Jac’s PC makes a full recovery.
OFF TOPIC (exept for wanting to make Wales great again)………
You look at what’s happening last night in Iran . Iran , who would believe this. Iran…..
MIGA – Make Iran great again – Iran first!
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/06/25/iran-protesters-chant-death-palestine-tehrans-grand-bazaar/
I want to know the how Foreign Minister in the Assembly will react to this? (we do have a foreign minister in the Assembly ….don’t we?)
Welsh Labour mantra….
Let’s make England and Wales great again,
Wales second!
Plaid Cymru mantra…..
Let’s make the globalist elite great again,
Immigration and feminists first!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/22/plaid-cymru-leader-leanne-wood-says-debate-on-refugees-has-been/
Unfortunately Leanne Wood does not have a grasp of what the ‘single market’ is. There are three components to it.
(a) Free movement of goods (no tarrif barriers).
(b) Free movement of capital.
(c) Free movement of labour (people).
The package is all three. You cannot have a single market where one of those components is reserved. There is no such thing as a ‘soft Brexit’ and the reality is that the EU27 who are in the single market is not, and does not intend to, reserve a ‘special exemption’. Mr Dixon (former chief exec of Plaid) has written correctly and extensively about the issue on his blog. I voted remain, in favour of Wales remaining in the single market, because, unlike Leanne, I know what it is. If we’re out, that’s the deal.
Of course there should be a ‘foreign affairs spokesperson’ for Wales in a proper nationalist party. The best place for that person this week is in Moscow, watching England getting tonked and then lunch with Gazprom about an energy deal. Give us a billion pound inward investment for a Swansea lagoon, in return you can park your aircraft carrier in Milford Haven. That would get Westminster thinking.
Stop using Wales as a colony.
Still the enemy within.
Nothing to dislike in there ! Sadly the vote to Remain would most definitely have buggered up any chance of Cymru securing a separate status and identity. Within Brexit we have the Anglo Brit separatist stance which MUST be turned on them – if it’s good enough for them then it must be good for others, like us.
Blair opens his mouth again – I had to say something.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/27/blair-globalisation-return-1930s/
Personally I think Tony Blair is a good contender for the Anti-Christ – he is definitely from the spawn of satan, a globalist prince of darkness. Blair, who” steamrollered” through Welsh devolution in order to offer Welsh Labour a Reich which would last for the next 1000 years now lies awake at night – not sleeping too well. The Welsh Labour Reich has been in power now for 19 years, it’s power over the Welsh Labour voter ( but my father voted Labour and his father before him – the donkey had a red rosette on it ) diminishes day by day.
Personally I think the evil Blair made one bad miscalculation.
It’s becoming possible now for the Welsh Labours Reich to be curtailed to 22 years.
We must all work hard in the next 3 years – the EU is fracturing – Europeans are taking back their countries – victory is in sight.
Blair…..he would do anything for his globalist chums……..
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/648008/Tony-Blair-Labour-immigration-asylum-seekers-UK-Brexit-EU-referendum
Let’s be honest……..you can’t get any lower than being a traitor to your country……
http://www.eutruth.org.uk/traitors.html
Clywch, clywch!! Couldn’t have articulated it better myself. The brain washed walking zombies in our midst still don’t realise what the globalist agenda is. They scoff at evidence of a ‘New World Order’ and the greater plan to have one World Government, a totalitarian, global administration and a global army to enforce this. The writing has been on the wall for years, but most choose not to read it, stupidly filing it under ‘conspiracy theory’, which is exactly what the elites want.
It is the main reason I voted out of Europe. Not for silly red herring reasons like immigration and the economy. It was to try and preserve the identity and sovereignty of individual nations. The core policy is to wipe out all vestiges of nation identity to usher in what was officially labelled the The Project for the New American Century (PNAC). It’s there for all to read. there are none as blind as those who do not want to see.
Make Cymrophobia a hate crime now!
Gwilym is right – the brain washed walking zombies in our midst are a barrier from ousting Labour from the Assembly. The zombies have been brainwashed into Political Correctness by the Cultural Marxists. They will relate to a hate crime, we must inform them of Cymrophobia. Cymrophobia is a terrible thing, it is worse than Islamophobia and homophobia combined. In the past Cymrophobia was accepted but we have moved on now, hate crimes cannot be tolerated anymore……..wave your Baner Cymru (the rainbow flag is so fashionably passe now !)
Stand against Cymrophobic hate crimes – dywedwch mam!
dywedwch mam is cool and trendy look……….
https://tellmamauk.org/
Stamp out Cymrophobia now. if you are suspicious of a Cymrophobic act, inform your local police station or write to the Welsh Labour government in our Assembly.
Zombies can be trained Gwilym!
The sad part is that, like Hitler and Stalin, Blair will never be brought to account and will die unpunished.
JAC’S PC IS IN HOSPITAL
(I keep on telling him not to plug microwave ovens into his USB sockets – but he won’t listen!)
Joking aside, he has suffered a problem with his device and will be out of circulation for a while. He therefore can’t post – but you all can – and he won’t be able to reply to e-mails.
We’ll get him back on his feet as soon as possible.
Everything’s back to normal. Thankfully it was just the On/Off switch.
just noticed your tweet about coverage of Tafarn Sinc and how it’s drawn some holiday home owners into the area. Well given the present climate where such ownership is tolerated, even encouraged, it’s not surprising. Hopefully Mr Andrews and his Jack will see the merit of treating the local language and culture with respect, better still try to pick up a passable knowledge of Cymraeg to enable him to top up his pint, buy a loaf and a few other basics. Small victory but worth winning and those people down the Preseli know how to go about it. If we have to put up with colonists in the 21st century then getting them to go native is a valid response.
I think that area of Pembrokeshire holds it own as far as the language is concerned. I think it was one of the first areas of Cymru to experience incomers way back in the late 60s early 70s when property was being virtually given away and the population was either still in decline, or depopulation had plateaued. There were literally hundreds of empty properties back then, many of them slowly being reclaimed by nature. In my childhood, a little to the north of this area, I well remember seeing cob built houses, their thatched roofs fallen in, in the final stages of decay. Okay, most of those moving in at that time were I suppose truly Hippies, who seem, by and large, to have had some kind of ethical principals that tended to respect the genus loci, which meant blending in, and often this meant acquiring Cymraeg.
I know later arrivals, (late 70s onwards to the present) are also referred to as ‘Hippies’ but I make a distinction and refer to them as New Agers, who seem to have more of a colonial mentality, and I would guess that by now areas like North Pembs are way too expensive for them, as well as most of those born in the area. TafarnSinc, with it’s emphasis on Cymraeg should, I would think, highlight the need to respect the linguistic nature of the area, and itself be an ideal environment to help acquire Cymraeg. As you suggest, it’s attitude of mind that makes a difference.
Completely off topic, I see a report on LlaisYSais online outlining another of Ken Skater’s innovative investments
https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/wales/former-coal-mine-to-become-100m-centre-for-rail-excellence?utm_source=swansea_sw_wales_newsletter&utm_campaign=swansea_sw_wales_news_tracker&utm_medium=top_story_article
It reports a centre of rail excellence at Nant Helen near Abercrave. Unless I’m way off the grid I always thought that was part of Celtic Energy’s massive gouge out of the Earth’s surface between Neath and Tawe valleys. There is, or was until recently, some sort of line running up the Dulais via Crynant to Onllwyn but to turn that into a “centre of excellence” when there’s square miles of land adjacent to the Swansea – Cardiff main line at places like Margam and other point east ( and possibly west too) is fuckin’ bonkers ! Or is this yet another mad scheme of taking jobs to people when there is no evidence that the skills exist in that locality so justifying shipping in another load of Brummies and other assorted Anglos, or Europeans & Commonwealth folk with said skills if push comes to shove ?
Maybe someone out there knows a bit more about this and can shed light into a dark corner.
This seems to be far from being a done deal, and I suspect it could be just the latest of wide-boy Skates’ fantasies.
Quote:
“We estimate a bespoke facility like this will cost £100m to deliver and it is not a project that can proceed without local support, private sector investment and the commitment of manufacturers, rolling stock companies, network operators and a range of other stakeholders to back it now and into the future.”
Getting that diverse group to agree to invest is going to take similar skills to that required for herding cats, and I just don’t think smiling-boy Skates is up to it. Once more, pure vapour to make it look like our Labour government is doing something when in reality it’s just building castles in the sky.
As you point out, the kind of skills required tor such a venture aren’t exactly those available in abundance in the proposed area, which means either a commitment to properly investing in skills, (which doesn’t come cheap) or importing people with those skills. However, this might not mean importing them from outside of Cymru, as if Airbus at Broughton goes pear shaped due to Brexit there will be a lot of skilled people looking for new positions, unless of course they are enticed away to Europe along with the factory.
Skates has now been associated with several less than brilliant proposed schemes, including the Ring of Iron the renaming of the Severn Bridge and now this highly optimistic scheme.
I wonder what he’ll come up with next.
Fair comment. My concern is that the scheme will get funding, a minority outlay from any participating manufacturers/engineers but mostly from Y Cynulliad who will now want to be seen to be up to the job having lost the Swansea Bay battle ( for now anyway ). That could lead to a badly thought out investment in the wrong place, aimed at employing the wrong people, then leading the a further cock-up in the shape of badly contrived remedies ! Such is the nature of Cynulliad’s posture-inspired incompetence.
This ‘test bed’ for trains at Abercraf is not what it’s spun out as, and is nothing to do with Ken Skates.
It was a sop that was dished out when the electrification of SWML to Swansea was scotched by the UK government. Prior to this betrayal, Hitachi invested a tidy sum in a maintenance and tuning depot at Maliphant sidings near High Street station in Swansea. They had already built maintenance sheds there, and already put up the overhead 25Kv cables to site. This investment by the Japanese in Swansea is now being dismantled following the Westminster government abandonment.
As a cheap gesture, in return the UK government gave Skates this fig leaf . Abercraf. The proposal is a glorified scrap yard where old locomotives go to die, a modern equivalent to do to old diesel loco’s like what Barry sidings were for steam loco’s in the 1960s.
The strap line of “global centre of rail excellence” is a spin on “scrap yard”. Of course, it’s possible some of the loco’s will be reconditioned for export to Africa. It’s important to see through the double-glazing snake oiled teeth of Skates and take what he says with a pinch of salt.
Last month the overhead cables were taken down at Swansea, and next month the welders are in to chop down the gantries and unscrew the pillars for scrap. Maybe some of these scrappy welders might get a job up the Dulais valley along with the now redundant GWR staff Landor (who used to maintain the 125s) but that’s about it.
A ” Lambert Smith connection?” Oh dear……shades of RIFW.
Funny you should pick up on that …….. must have been a year end approaching with some signs of underspending in the Department of Handouts so some dumb bureaucrat had the flash of inspiration that he and his team should dump a few million on some schemes, rush through the formalities and hope that things work out better this time. Of course without proper due diligence they seldom do.
Lots of people at the open day in Glynllifon. Very professionally designed bilingual questionnaire, must say. The man directing traffic at the main gate (English, of course) said he had worked at Glynllifon for two years, and hated the place!
So they’re employing people who hate the place. Can’t they find locals? Did you spot Team Williams there? Was it possible to ask questions?
I see from news reports that a lot has been done inside the house, and there are statues in the gardens, but this could all be removed in one night. How much work has been done that cannot be removed and how much has been spent on it? For example, has any work actually been done behind the scaffolding?
Yes the chief villain was on parade. I don’t know if anyone asked him about the Radnorshire Arms, but someone had stuck posters up in the Park concerning Polvellan Manor.
I don’t suppose anyone could care if all those vile statues disappeared. Most are mass produced and not long out of their mounds. As for the interior furnishings, the majority have probably come from their other buildings anyway. They’ll get moved on when the s**** hits the fan, no doubt.
Sorry to also be off topic here, but did anyone else catch the BBC Radio 4 drama ‘First World Problems’ that has been on over the last few weeks? I’ve not yet seen it discussed in Welsh media or blogs, so I hope Jac will forgive me for bringing it to the attention of anyone who it may have passed by here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b5stvj
It concerns a near-future UK civil war, through the experiences of a middle-class South Manchester family. Brexit causes an economic crisis and Scotland unilaterally leaves the UK (causing the ‘Greater England Army’ to surround the Nukes at Faslane) and the cities of the English north also attempt to break with London.
Wales doesn’t really get mentioned until two or three episodes in when the Manchester family escape to Nefyn, after which it features prominently. To cut a long story short, due to having a disabled son the family are reluctantly accepted at first, until Liverpudlian outlaw gangs start rampaging and killing Welsh people which causes a Welsh resistance movement to start expelling all English people from the area at gunpoint, which is presented as ‘ethnic cleansing’.
There are five episodes in total.
Sounds fun!
Also sounds typically English to describe resisting genocide as ethnic cleansing. My understanding is that people can only be ethnically cleansed from areas or territories they’ve inhabited for a few generations.
@Sofraniaeth
It’s nice to see the BBC is realising that there is going to be a civil war, but the submarines will be at sea and Westminster government which is increasingly becoming Islamic and of course each MP must swear an oath on the koran to take office, will be in control of the submarines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6zLBFTqEY
btw….A nice little touch by the Home secretary……”UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has written to Welsh MPs, telling them they will be allowed to ‘continue their lives here’ after Britain leaves the EU.”
https://www.rt.com/uk/430593-javid-eu-welsh-mps/
….and I don’t think the Greater England Army would go up to Faslane….the weather is much too cold. They would probably go to the nearest US air force base and try to claim asylum and scenes would occur reminiscent of the US evacuation of Saigon……..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfYR30MBoBA
Hopefully, by then, Wales would have rid itself of Welsh Labour and would have formed an alliance with a Christian military super power with a proper nuclear arsenal – personally, I don.t think that the Faslane sunmarines carry any nuclear warheads and the declassfied information relating to this will be revealed in 100 years time!
Personally I wouldn’t want our country to form any alliance with a ‘Christian military superpower’ as there is only one, and it has been a liability since the beginning of the Cold War. I’d much rather see Cymru become militarily non-aligned, with mutual agreements with other European powers over mutual defence.
I also find the attempt to slur Islam a little distasteful, as well as ridiculous. I’m sure that Muslim MPs already swear allegiance on the Koran, as it also the case when swearing legal oaths. Sure, there are loony Muslims, just as there are loony Christians, (and the USA seems to have more than it’s fair share who are regarded as mainstream, who vote for idiots like Reagan, Bush Jr and Trump) but they are extreme minorities.
For the record, I don’t believe any country should require the swearing of oaths over religious books, and my ideal for an independent Cymru would be one where a strict secularism was applied to government and the entire public sector, especially the education system. The indoctrination of young minds in either a political or religious manner should be regarded as a heinous crime in my opinion. Teach about religion and politics, of course, as well as other things, as only in this way can people develop to be self-regulating human beings capable of making truly informed decisions.
We should understand where we come from, how Europe was formed, be proud of our Europran history and how christianity molded togather a concept of Europe and Europeans.. It can be argued that christianity held back scientific development, but come the Renaissance didn’t Europe blossom! Every country had it’s religion, for the Europeans it was christianity.
Regarding Islam I only look at it in a historical context. I would argue if it wasn’t for christianity that Europe would have been Islamic a long time ago. The culturally marxist brainwahed coming out of our schools and universities know nothing of their history ( maybe the history of gender studies )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Qpy0mXg8Y
I would also argue that there are 2 Christian military super powers…….
https://russia-insider.com/en/300000-russian-priests-were-given-choice-they-all-chose-death-dmitry-smirnov-video/ri22038
You should study history concerning the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks tried to wipe out Christianity in Russia. Since the fall of Communism Russian people are regaining their faith and rebuilding their churches.
Try checking out Alexander Solzhenitsyn “For a jew nothing is more insulting than the truth. The blood maddened Jewish terrorists murdered sixty six million in Russia from 1917 to 1957.”
If you don’t know your history you have no future.
Ex-Director Dudley Cross works at LHS, https://www.lsh.co.uk/our-people?t=cross ,been pals for years I’m told.
He was working for LHS while he was a director at Plas Glynllifon Ltd.
They now have some rabbit hutches outside the mansion. Wonder why?
Perhaps somebody can ask on the Open Days tomorrow and Monday.
……and weep for our national assembly too!
https://mrorigamidotorg.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/are-we-getting-fed-up-of-govenments-in-europe-saying-that-nationalists-are-far-right/
Somewhat O/T, but still much of a piece since it displays the ‘values’ of colonialism:
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/16308468.Is_this_an__insult_to_Wales___Wrexham_trader_gobsmacked_that_Union_Flag_bunting_outside_shop_is_deemed__offensive_/
Key quotes (emphases mine, and sorry if I’ve cocked up the formatting somewhere):
“Mr Vale, a veteran who served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, said he put the bunting up…to mark a series of events being celebrated in Great Britain this summer.”
(Shoe-horn the ‘Our Brave Boys (TM)’ reference in to give it the added rah-rah factor)
“To mark a year when we have a Royal Wedding, 100 years of the RAF, Trooping of the Colour, the World Cup…
(Who’s this ‘we’, paleface? Not our‘Royals’, not ourair force, Trooping the Colour (not, ‘the Colour’) takes place every year, and ‘we’ are not in the World Cup. But guess who is?).
“This morning a lady came into my shop complaining about the bunting stating it was insulting to the Welsh …”
(And she was bloody right, wasn’t she? It’s a sign of our subjugation and our ongoing invisibility)
“Her comments were bordering on being racist to the English in my opinion. I was a bit taken aback…
(So to ignore our nationality in our own country isn’t ‘racist’, oh dearie me, no!, but to point out the colonialists’ ignorance is? And he’s offended by it? What sort of snowflakes did they have in the RWF?).
“I was born in Bangor, North Wales, my father Blaenau Ffestiniog…”
(If a cat has her kittens in the gas stove, it doesn’t mean that they’re scones. And ‘Blaenau Ffestiniog’ is a daft name for anyone’s father, let’s face it).
“…his father and generations before him were born on The Great Orme in Llandudno.”
(Where? In one of those caves that imported dossers now use for shelter?)
“I served 14 years in The Royal Welsh Fusiliers…”
(The military reference again. “I fought in seventeen World Wars for the likes of you…”)
“”I’m keeping the bunting up. It looks nice, brightens the place up, and it is insulting to say Wales is not represented in that flag.”
(It isn’t represented, is it? So how can it be insulting to mention an absolute sure-fire fact?).
Iesgob annwyl! When will we rid our nation of either the colonialist attitude (the only two comments on the piece are from obvious BritNats) or those who promote it? And will we do it in time to prevent our identity from being ‘buntinged out’ of existence?
He’s not exactly shy and retiring, despite not wanting his photo shown because he’s a magistrate. He knows how to manipulate the media.
Here are two news reports from last year. ‘I don’t feel safe’, says Steve. ‘Rocked by break-ins’.
This highlights the problem of the Englandandwales legal system.
Magistrates are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on behalf of the Crown and generally attract the ‘queen and county, served in the colonies what-what, elderly white male royalist, butchers apron wielding Daily Mailers.” They see it as social status, a form of doff capped lickspittle, rather than serving the community. It results in people like Mr Vale being appointed a magistrate, a person who thinks he can lord over Wrexham.
Mr Vale types were identified as a problem in more ethnically diverse areas of London, and a conscious effort was made to more accurately reflect the social makeup of that city. A similar change needs to apply Wales. Time to evict Mr Vale from his bench. The type of person to dispense minor justice in North Wales should not just be Welsh and accountable to Wales but also attuned to the local community. That includes its national identity. Failure to do so continues to reinforce the view that the law in Wrexham is a set of rules imposed on Wales by a foreign power.
Mr Vale is unsuitable for office.
Sack him.
As for him being born on the Great Orme near Llandudno, I believe that to be true. The regimental goat is obtained from such breeding stock, and afforded some silage, decorated in braid, lives in a pen and awarded a nominal rank.
You touched on something interesting with your comment “kittens born in the gas stove aren’t scones”. I assume you’re alluding to what constitutes “Welshness”?
Can you elucidate any further – if not conferred by place of birth is it something else perhaps e.g genetics/lineage or alternatively a certain state of mind?
This is a great blog BTW – the last couple of posts are very interesting
When the Duke of Wellington was called an Irishman because he’d been born in Ireland he responded with, ‘A man may be born in a stable but it doesn’t make him a horse’. Which I agree with, it’s a state of mind, or upbringing, or, especially with regard to the English and some other peoples, the perceived status or relationship between those peoples.
To Wellington ‘the Irish’ were semi-savage, Catholic natives who threatened the position of the Protestant English aristocracy and landowners in Ireland, the class to which he belonged. It explains why so many Welsh seem to lose their accent and identity when they cross the Severn Bridge or the Queensferry Bridge.
I take my cue on this from the attitude of our Scottish friends: if people come to our country showing the proper respect for our nationhood and to our identity as a nation, if they are committed to making a positive contribution for the betterment of our nation, then they are as much ‘Welsh’ as any of those of us who were born and bred here (and probably more so than a lot of those who were).
I had rather a hundred Poles, Portuguese, Somalis, what-‘ave-yew with that attitude than a dozen ‘white settlers’ from Litherland, Loughborough or Luton who come here to either thieve, sponge or lord it over us.
Great stuff, I’ve left a comment on the Leader article. And I’ve used your reference to his father being called Blaenau Ffestiniog.
All those who oppose the BritNat mindset can vote in the poll which asks the question whether or not the bunting is offensive to Wales. They’ve had well over a thousand votes so far, with the majority saying it’s offensive. The poll closes on the 25th, so hurry!
You can also register online with the Wrexham Leader and leave a comment, as Jac and I have done.
I know nothing about a ‘Petition’ and would love to sign it but can find nothing as I miss the ‘Rad’…
Why are you using the e-mail address Jacofthenorth@symail.co.uk?
This sent to me yesterday, which explains the world of commercial financing nicely.
https://developmentbank.wales/news-and-events/art-possible?utm_source=Chris%20Griffiths&utm_medium=Business%20Wales%20newsletter&utm_campaign=Succession
This is almost exactly what he’s done.
Pity a counter demonstration can’t be organised to disrupt the Open Days. I’m sure the locals would be most interested to learn what happened to Polvellan Manor in Cornwall at the hands of the Williamses and their cronies!
Having gained a reputation for being a bad or slow payer the local workforce began to avoid working for him and the workforce became mainly Eastern European. I know some of them, slave wages and keep em waiting for it. Ironically they had worked out that the Rad “would never reopen” before anyone else. With typical disdain the Williams would talk shop in front of “little people” and foreigners, because they are too stupid to understand. Well now its all spilling out: moral = “pas devant les domestiques”
In which case he will need to prove that his employees (past and current) are EU citizens. The onus of responsibility is with the employer, even if the employee has ‘faked’ a national status, like for example a Turk pretending to be a Romanian or a Belarus pretending to be a Latvian. He is required by law to hold record of the verification. Even if the proprietor is not aware that the employee or a person professing to be self employed did not have the right to work in the UK, the proprietor of engagement may be liable to pay a civil penalty of up to £10,000 per worker, as well as the possibility of criminal charges. It might be wise for UK border agency to do a spot check if, as has been claimed, there are many ‘eastern Europeans’ being employed at various sites, including Glynllifon. Additionally there are obligations such as minimum wage and ‘allowable accommodation deduction formula’ that apply even if they are EU citizens.
As a slight digression have any of you visited Plas Glynllifon recently? The whole place is fenced off whilst Williams workmen (not local) have flooded the grounds with the most hideous statuary. An MGM lion guards the main entrance, and bronze horses cavort on the grass. The main fountain now contains the most repulsive “statue” I’ve ever seen. All in all reminds me of the outside of a gigantic bordello.
You are familiar with gigantic bordellos!
Where are Williams’ workmen from? Is there a company hoarding visible? Van?
I have a vivid imagination, being an author of novels!
On the second point, it appeared that William workmen were very reluctant to speak with us local peasants. We did ‘corner’ a couple of them one day and they said they were from Herefordshire.
The grubbing up and replanting work they were doing could easily have been handled by local tradesmen. The whole fencing off, etc, reminds me of the fortified border between North and South Korea.
These kind of shenaningans are once again taking place in Plas Gelli Aur which used to be the old Agri college for Carmarthenshire, once again some “rich man form London, this time connected to Damian Hirst” has bought the mansion and is going to transform it into an amazing spectaular private asset.
How ever the Country Park has been torn apart, the caffi left to rot, the kid’s park dismantled. and the grounds left to grow wild. These asets were supposed to be accessed by the public, but the brown signs have been covered over and the public are shooed off the land. But CCC stil manages to give this Mr Rockefeller money from the public purse to “improve” a gate, or a fence at an edifice which will neve be renovated, just scalped and disembowelled.
His workmen are not local besides a sparkle they work cash in hand occasionally disappearing and stealing off the sites. The work men dislike Mr Williams
The workers I have met are from overseas, Eastern European maybe they speak little English
What exactly are these workers doing, and where do they live?
Caernarfon are not happy with Paul and Rowena Williams, this blog has been read and will be sent to Gwynedd Councillors. He is not going to get an easy ride for Plas Brerton and Plas Coch, He can shove his plans for a fishing village and anything else he thinks he can do. Not happening!
“Fishing village”? Do tell.
His plans for Plas Brerton and Plas Coch were in the Daily Post, here is the link https://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/three-ambitious-concepts-plas-brereton-14762264#ICID=IYA
its funny that nobody bothered to investigate the previous owners scams
Which previous owner and where?
I worked and lived at the Radnorshire arms. I was always told never let anyone in to the managers flat which had been modernised!
A ‘modernised’ listed building?
You may have seen this, but decided to look at Mortimer’s Cross Inn for planning applications. Note the Lambert Smith Hampton connection. Subtext of this Planning Officer’s Report reads Gwynedd beware.
https://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/s14519/DCNW20080515F%20-%20LAND%20TO%20THE%20REAR%20OF%20MORTIMERS%20CROSS%20INN%20MORTIMERS%20CROSS%20LEOMINSTER%20HEREFORDSHIRE.pdf
For a company that claim they took such care of the Radnorshire Arms a walk from the bypass to the rear entrance of the building would show how much they cared, and today, a look up at the street frontage shows broken guttering with weeds in flower!
The same kind of message is coming from many different places.
Interesting info from Sarah.
So Paul Williams business plan really can be seen from his previous escapade in Herefordshire. It was to generate an income stream by erecting timber chalets in the grounds. No only that, he had already installed a mobile home without planning permission and his attempt to get planning permission to use it as a permanent residential dwelling, it was refused. When the planning application for 5 lodge style holiday caravans was submitted (see Sarah’s link), one of these was already sited. I suppose this gives a clearer understanding of his approach to doing business. I wonder if Gwynedd are as shrewd as Herefordshire?
Is the real business plan to temporarily shove into Glynllifon a few antiques lifted in Powys, get the favour of a gullible planning officer, and then embark on the plantation of the gardens with timber chalets for elderly retirees? Give them afternoon tea on the veranda in return for a covenant over their life savings? What’s the REAL business plan Mr Williams?
The thing about Glynllifon is that if it were a goer as a top-notch hotel, then the major global chains would have snapped it up, with hundreds of millions in capital at their disposal. My hunch is that the ‘restoration’ is just a front, manufactured from raiding antiques from a dodgy deal in Powys, and the real business plan is retirement leasehold scam for the property with a load of chalets in the grounds. Cyngor Gwynedd need to look deeper as to what is really going on.
Other examples are coming to light of Paul and Rowena Williams selling property to themselves at inflated prices. One being Ledwyche Springs near Ludlow. The money came from the Lancashire Mortgage Corporation, the previous name for Together Commercial Finance.
I suspect there are many, many examples of Williams and this company doing very dubious business.
Here’s the Zoopla entry for Ledwych. Sold in 2015 (to themselves) for £1,250,000 now valued at £372,000.
There are 14 freehold property deeds wrapped up in the financing deal.
Eliza Cottage PL13 2HF, Broadaxe Farm LD8 2LA, West Hill Cottage PL13 2HF, Polvellan Manor PL13 2AH, Castle Inn HR6 9UN, The Cabin LD8 2BA, Seiont Manor LL55 2AQ, with some of these properties including additional titles over a non-contiguous landholding.
Plas Glynllifon LL54 5DY is crossed out from the charge registered at Companies House suggesting the biggest mansion was pulled from the deal at the last minute. This may be because it was discovered that the land surrounding the mansion is not privately owned, but is (was in 2016) in the hands of Gwynedd council.
It looks like a tower of cards. In 2016 the Williams pair said the renovation of Plas Glynllifon was going to cost £5m. Then, in 2017 they announced the renovation was going to cost £10m. I would expect that sometime this year a new announcement will be made that the renovation will cost considerably more. This is arm twisting the council so as to hand over the surrounding land for a nominal amount and to grant planning undesirable works or installations, otherwise the ‘plug will be pulled’.
In other words “give us the Glynllifon land or we’ll close Seiont Manor.”
There’s no question in my mind that if they get their hands on Glynllifon they’ll do what they’ve done elsewhere: ‘buy’ it from themselves – for maybe £25m – with the money coming from yet another mortgage or loan, then they’ll just close it down and disappear into the sunset.
Are you in the clairvoyance game..? Front page Caernarfon Herald today – ‘£14m to fix up Mansion’.
What they are doing is not illegal – it comes under ‘tax efficiency’.
It will prove much murkier than what is revealed so far. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if after there own company has bought the assets off them, same company then borrows the money for the purchase from them – in effect they lend the money to themselves.
Those two cowboys Hicks and Gillette did similar when the ‘bought’ Liverpool FC. After they took control of the club, they then borrowed against the club in order to pay themselves the cost of buying it. The same appears to be happening here in a roundabout way.
I believe the technical name is ‘leveraged buy-out/purchase’.
But whatever, all they way through it they are writing tax off through purchase of assets, asset depreciation, loan repayments etc etc when in reality it’s all their own money moving from point A to Point B on a spreadsheet, being divided up and then moved back to point A, being further divided up and moved back to point B.
Money goes to money (and in this case comes from it as well)
What you describe would be bad enough in private business, but here it’s being done with – in some cases – publicly-owned assets and with the input of public funding.
Are any of their shell companies registered in Gibraltar or Cyprus do you know?
I haven’t come across one yet.
They have done this also in Spain and France conning people out of millions with hoax time share. Jac please dig into this and help us too
Are you referring to the “Glynllifon Band”? If so I’d be delighted to learn more.
I’m lost. Would someone care to explain?
Good work, it must be exposed and dealt with, they need a real buyer
Now they’re trying to steamroller Cyngor Gwynedd into handing over the Country Park. They’ve even hired an “expert” to say that the Park poses a danger to the public! Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts.
Very interesting reading, devastating to see the state of the Radnorshire Arms in such a quick time.lets hope that the appropriate authorities act quickly to stop this lot causing any more heartbreak
It might seem a relatively minor point in the context of the wider shenanigans outlined here, but are some of these fine old buildings that have been said to have been ‘stripped’ internally statutory listed buildings?
If so any removal of fixed interior fittings such as fireplaces, paneling, original doors etc. that may have taken place would constitute a definite criminal offence. I know that local authority conservation officers are thin on the ground but councils will still have a statutory duty to prosecute any such infringements against Grade II listed buildings.
If any such buildings are listed at Grade II* or Grade I (unlikely) then it is a matter also for Cadw and the Welsh Government.
I have been informed today that antique fittings have been removed from the Radnorshire Arms and so has “a cupboard of documents” relating to the history of Presteigne, also documents relating to the building, which is over 400 years old.
As I understand it, unfixed items such as furniture etc can be legally removed, but if the cupboard was fixed, built into a chimney alcove for example, then it would be considered part of the listed building. There should be a site description included on the register (schedule?) of listed buildings and this may mention interior fittings.
With buildings like pubs, the special interest that gets a building listed is often based on fittings such as original or historic bar/ bar back/ panelling etc.
The usual work-around for this is the ‘the condition was so bad it accidentally came off during works, officer’. I would expect 1950s central heating pipes and electrics to already have damaged precious artefacts in a building of this type. Ceiling frees, wood block floors and oak panels. You just get an antiquarian to declare the most recent attachments or modifications to be of a compromising nature, and then you have permission go at it with a hammer and crowbar. There is ‘intent’ and ‘negligence’ to prove.
Does a schedule of artifacts exist in the listing?
Hi Brychan, most councils produce a ‘list’ of their listed buildings and each will normally have a paragraph or two to describe the site, prepared by Cadw when the building was listed/ or the listing amended. Can’t find one online for Powys, but happened across this searchable site which features entries for listed buildings UK-wide.
Here is the info for the Radnorshire Arms with the description of the exterior and interior, which is from the Cadw descriptions on the ‘list’: https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300008888-radnorshire-arms-hotel-presteigne
Interestingly it is Grade II* and the star means that (if Wales has the same system as they do in England) Cadw the national agency has to be consulted/ involved in any planning considerations (whereas Grade II are managed by the county council alone). The description mentions panelling in several rooms. Even if alterations do not relate to things mentioned in the description they still require Listed Building Consent, even a satellite dish.
For the purpose of Jac’s investigations, i.e. the activities of Williams and his cohorts, everything depends on whether they themselves are responsible for any removal of fittings. The criminal damage may have been done before they bought the place. Likewise the Gwynedd properties.
Worth an official investigation, though. The Radnorshire Arms is Grade II, so Cadw and the WAG could indeed have a remit to become involved.
I believe that Cadw and the ‘Welsh’ Government are among the bodies that will receive a copy of the petition now doing the rounds.
Ardderchog! It’s also very encouraging that other Welsh citizens and communities are pursuing this matter.
I’d like to see some action in the Caernarfon area.
I should also add, re. damage to listed buildings, that if the damage was in any way connected with financial gain, then this often increases the likelihood of an investigation and therefore of a prosecution.
And yes, if there has been any damage to any of the Gwynedd properties that these people own or have owned, then Cyngor Gwynedd should be notified.
A lot probably depends on whatever features the buildings had when they were listed, of course, but the fact remains that you can’t make unauthorised alterations to a listed building, although I suspect that the law is often more honoured in the breach than in the observation.
Financial gain explains everything in this case.
There are a number of indigenous Welsh owned businesses on the grounds of Plas Glynllifon. Stuff like posh furnishings, jewellery makers, pottery and slate gifts. They currently lease ‘outbuildings’ from Gwynedd County Council as part of the surrounding landholding. Paul and Rowena Williams want to council to gift this landholding to them. This would put these businesses at risk. I also notice that the plans involve the construction of a new banqueting suite and spa in the courtyard. This would need additional planning permission.
Planning…
(1) A planning application, in order to create a temporary compound and the plantation of 4 static caravans and 4 containers and erection of fence, was refused.
This would have been sited on the eastern aspect of the site. C16/0583/17/LL.
(2) A planning application to convert some of the mansion (internal courtyard) to provide additional accommodation that was submitted by previous owners, was actually withdrawn in 2010, and not awarded. C08A/0047/17/CR.
I therefore suspect that whilst Paul and Rowena Williams have arranged some cosmetic restoration which does not need planning permission like digging out an old fountain (see this fountain in action in the music video in previous post) and floor reconditioning, the real reason for the ‘open day by invitation only’ is to exert pressure to obtain planning permission for significant alterations, like changes to the southern aspect of the building. It might be wise to check what’s behind the tarpaulin that’s gone up.
At the very least, the relevant local authorities should be notified regarding possible breaches of listed building regulations, quite apart from any possible financial irregularities.
I think the petition circulating now addresses various issues and will be presented to a number of bodies, including local authorities and agencies concerned with the upkeep of such buildings.
Well done Jac. The net must be closing in. You have done all the research. Should be easy for the local and national media to run with the story from here and ask a few more questions.
Business rates bill for the dormant hotels must be mounting up nicely
Knowing how they operate I’m sure they’ll find some sucker to pay their bills.
Or, they won’t pay at all. This is another little predilection of theirs.