People who live in Birchgrove say the council should step in and sort out the old Majestic site on Birchgrove Road.
Fenella Bowden, Independent Councillor for Heath says she has received a number of complaints about the derelict building.
Rob Allen, 52, who lives next door to the site says “we’ve found bits of scaffolding falling in our drive and throughout the years we’ve also had bits of brick and parts of the original roof. I don’t like the fact there’s graffiti going up there and no one is taking charge of it. To add insult to injury I have also heard there is Japanese knotweed growing there now as well.”
The site is owned by a private landlord but is leased by Tesco. The supermarket had tried to open the site as a store in 2006 but didn’t go ahead with the plans.
Mr Allen says “Tesco has let this building just go to rot and I think the council needs to intervene.”
Councillor Bowden says “The Council has powers under the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 s215 to require proper maintenance of land and remedy the condition of the land. This can include demolition. It’s time for Cardiff Council to enforce this in relation to the former Majestic site.”
A spokesperson for Cardiff City council says “This is a legal matter. The City Council doesn’t own the building but we have powers to intervene on matters of public safety, regeneration or public health. There are various legislations that can be used but all of this is subject to appeal from the owner either to Welsh ministers or the magistrates court, depending on the legislation used.
“In terms of the Section 215 Notice , the Council would serve notice to remedy the situation in a specific time period. If this doesn’t take place, then the Council would intervene, carry out the work and charge the owner in default. If the owner doesn’t pay, a very expensive legal battle could follow which would cost the tax payer a significant amount of money. Time may be better spent for those that wish for the building to be renovated, to put pressure and lobby the owner to remedy the situation.”
Mr Allen says the fact the site has been ignored is particularly frustrating following the recent scheme to ‘Regenerate Birchgrove’. He says “I feel we’ve been left behind, and because we’re not on the main road of Birchgrove its literally been left. It’s out of sight, out of mind and its not fair.”
Tesco and the building owner Philip Jenkins were asked to comment but have so far been unavailable.
