The Current Situation week beginning December 4th

No decision has yet been made by the Assembly as to whether to call in the Ruperra planning application. The call-in team of planning advisers in the Assembly regularly receives information from the County Planning Division on the progress of the application. A member of the team has said
" The local planning authority is contacted on a regular basis to find out whether it has set a date for determination. Latest indications are that it may be presented to the Council’s Planning Committee in January 2007. The Assembly will contact the Council towards the middle of December to find out what the latest position is.

The Assembly would particularly like to see the Council’s planning officers report which will not be available until nearer the Committee date. In the meantime the Assembly will be carrying out internal consultations particularly with Cadw. "

Last week the well known architectural historian, Mark Girouard, whose books include those on Tudor and Jacobean country houses, wrote to Carwyn Jones, the Minister, regretting the lack of progress and comparing the fortunes of Ruperra with that of its sister castle, Lulworth.

Ruperra Exhibition at the Senedd

The exhibition at the Senedd on the 14 and 15 November created a great deal of interest among visitors. There were speeches by the following AMs - Jeff Cuthbert, Sue Essex, William Graham and Owen John Thomas. Michael Davies, conservation architect of Davies-Sutton Architecture, who restored Cefn Mably and Sker House, also spoke.