THE NORTH Carmarthenshire village of Rhydcymerau has lost its school, shop and post office. The 19th century Methodist chapel stares forlornly at what was the Red Dragon pub opposite. Now the pub, in the heart of the village, has been partly demolished, and slates removed from the roof of the section still standing.
The demolition, carried out without planning permission, leaves a ruined building at the heart of the village, which lies on the B4337 road between Llanybydder and Llansawel.
Michael Singh, of Nottingham-based Coxmoor Projects Ltd, had asked Carmarthenshire County Council to allow demolition, so he could create a parking area, but he started knocking down the pub before the council was ready to consider the plan. The bat survey carried out as part of the application stated ‘Demolition work must not commence until planning consent has been approved’.
There is a poorly landscaped caravan site behind the pub, with a licence for 30 vans, and at present occupied by a smaller number of static caravans. Permission exists for 16 caravans further back, over the Melinddwr river, and Mr Singh proposes to site another 19 on adjoining land, in total 65 caravans on a site about four times larger than the existing area occupied by static caravans.
Court cases for property negligence
Coxmoor Projects, based at 54 The Ropewalk, Nottingham, has one Director, according to Companies House on August 8, 2016 – Allan Singh, who is also a director of Nottingham Student Lettings Ltd, and was a director of two dissolved companies, Castlebay UK Ltd and Woberry Ltd.
The owners of Coxmoor Projects, which is concerned with the construction of commercial buildings, are Richard Singh and Stuart Singh. Stuart, Richard and Robert Singh were formerly Directors of the company, which changed its name from Beachcroft UK Ltd in March 2012.
Michael Singh and other members of the Singh family have been involved in court cases arising from property they own. Michael Singh has been prosecuted by Nottingham City Council for failing to licence property and failure to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2006. In 2008, he was fined £8,000 for allowing students to live in a dilapidated house, in Lenton Boulevard, Lenton. He did not have licence for multiple occupation, a ceiling was about to collapse, electrical wires were exposed, and the property was affected by mould, according to a report of the case in the Nottingham Evening Post on July 25, 2008.
In defence, his solicitor Alan Millband had told the court that Mr Singh ‘was not a rogue landlord’.
Yet on September 3, 2015, the Nottingham Evening Post was again reporting on dangers in Singh-owned property. Robert Singh of Nottingham Student Lettings Ltd pleaded guilty to five charges relating to 32/34 Castle Gate, Nottingham, a property without protection against fire. Robert Singh admitted failing to carry out a fire risk assessment, failing to ensure the property has fire detectors and alarms, and failing to ensure it could be evacuated quickly and safely in case of fire. During the court case, prosecutor Bernard Thorogood said that the ‘failings were gross, all the more so in light of the defendants’ experience in managing residential properties’.
Three businesses connected with the Singh family have submitted planning applications for the Red Dragon site in Rhydcymerau since 2006, all of which – except Coxmoor Projects Ltd’s demolition application – have been withdrawn. Two applications, in 2006 to convert part of the pub into a shop and in 2008 for a housing development, were by SPM Ltd. Another, in 2007, to relocate sites for 16 holiday cabins, was submitted by BSP Holdings Ltd.
Carmarthenshire County Council knocked the 2008 application on the head because SPM Ltd would not sign a Section 106 Agreement for a financial contribution to help mitigate any damaging impacts on the community of Rhydcymerau. SPM Ltd is not listed at Companies House. Neither is BSP Holdings, although the Nottingham Evening Post reported in January 2009 that ‘Singh brothers’ BSP buys Equitable House’. This was a 24,000sq ft building bought from Barclays Bank, and which has since been converted into accommodation for students.
As for Coxmoor Holdings’ intentions for Rhydcymerau, no quick way exists to contact the company, because searches have failed to find a telephone number, website or email address. The Herald tried to contact Coxmoor director Allan Singh at Nottingham Student Lettings, of which he is also a Director, by telephone and by email, but without success. We have asked Allan Singh and Michael Singh about their plans for the site, whether the pub would be removed or rebuilt, whether the caravans would remain and, if so, whether they would be holiday accommodation. We also asked if they could reassure local people that any development would be high quality and in-keeping with the landscape.
Objection from Community Council
Mavis Beynon, Financial Officer with Llanybydder and Rhydcymerau Community Council, sent in an objection to the pub demolition plan on behalf of the Community Council, pointing out that the ‘plans submitted with the application are some years old. The trees shown on the perimeter of the site have all been felled, so there is now no screening, especially to private properties close by’. She added that 65 caravans would be ‘too many for the site area and the infrastructure of the village could not cope with that amount of people’.
Patricia Baker, a former resident and Community Councillor until 2014, submitted an objection stating that slates from the building’s roof were removed last winter, opening the interior to the elements. “The whole site was what can only be described as a bomb site,” she wrote. “This pub was a strong building. It had been lived in for many years – it was not a building in need of demolition. All it needed was a good coat of paint and a good tidy up around, now it seems like it is due to be demolished.”
Other objectors made similar points. Sylvia Maskelyne, also a Community Councillor, said: “We love our village, but for many years, due to the so-called works being carried out on the Red Dragon site, it is a village ruined at the moment. Hopefully this can be rectified in the not too distant future.”
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