Heol Las Park Pavilion

Welcome to the Campaign page for Heol Las Park Pavilion.

See below for the latest news on what action the Community Association is taking on your behalf.

Remember we still need you to Sign The Petition to SAVE The Pavilion.



Any comments  would be welcomed, or have your say in the online discussion forum.

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1st March 2012

Today our emotions are full of disappointment as we have to announce that the constituted company 'Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion' that was set up by representatives of the Community Association, Birchgrove Colts Football and Winch Wen Cricket Club (Now Landore Cricket) has ceased existence. Following the Demolition of the Pavilion our hopes and dreams of providing a modern building for all residents and visitors of Heol Las Park were destroyed. As you can read below this Campaign started in October 2008 and we tried very very hard to succeed. We were offered £170,000 by the Lottery to re-build the Pavilion, but never got the opportunity to deliver on all the hard work that we applied over many meeting's, creating a business plan, funding applications, all gone to waste.

We have learned some harsh lessons from this experience, but we will not be defeated in our quest to improve Birchgrove for the residents. We hope you understand the reasons why this campaign is now over, but if you wish to discuss it further, please contact us. Thank you for all the support.



23rd July 2011

We are still awaiting a response from Swansea Council to our meeting of 27th June.



6th July 2011


We sent an email to Iwan Davies of Swansea Council today asking what progress had been made since our meeting on the 27th June, as we had not received any communication.



27th June 2011

A meeting was held today with Swansea Council, Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion, Birchgrove Community Association and Landore Cricket Club. The meeting was requested by ourselves to establish the reasons and current situation with the Pavilion, now demolished. We communicated our total disappointment at the decision to demolish the Pavilion without any communication. We were told that it was demolished because of Health and Safety issues. We stated that as the building had been demolished, the Lottery had now said that we would be unable to proceed with the £170,000 application as the building no longer existed.

We then discussed the possibility of support from Swansea Council in going forward with an alternative plan of building a new building in the Park to replace the Pavilion. The Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company would be prepared to put together another lottery bid, but we needed the support and help of Swansea Council. Other issues were discussed and we left the meeting with the agreement that Swansea Council would contact the local Councillors to further discuss the plans, and investigate internal project teams who could assist us.



13th June 2011

A meeting has been arranged with Swansea Council to discuss the current situation with the Pavilion in Heol Las Park on Monday 27th June. We will post an update after the meeting.


26th May 2011

Today, we have sent a request to Swansea Council for a meeting to discuss the Pavilion. The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Birchgrove Community Association, Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion and Landore Cricket Club. We await a date. As soon as we have any news we will post it here!


18th May 2011

One day after Swansea Council demolished your Pavilion, we are told by the National Lottery People and Places Programme that we have been successful with our outline application to refurbish and renew the building. They were willing to give us £170,000. YES £170,000 to renew your building, but now it has been demolished. Once the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company Directors as a group have discussed this we will update you. 


17th May 2011

At 12.18pm today we received an email from Iwan Davies from Swansea Council that the Pavilion will be Demolished with Immediate effect. We visited the park at 12.30pm and half the Pavilion had already been demolished. Totally unacceptable, and we are still in a total state of shock and disgust how the Birchgrove community has been treated by these actions. No communication what so ever!!! We thought that we were in a partnership with Swansea Council in working towards developing the Pavilion. Local people had come together and spent enormous amounts of time in pursuing this by holding meetings, finding partners, developing strategies, writing a detailed business plan, setting up an incorporated company and submitting an application to the Lottery, and Swansea Council have totally disregarded their citizens voices once again !!!!!!

Click here to see the demolition site. What are your views on this?

more to follow . . . . .


4th April 2011

Following a meeting with the 'People and Places' lottery team, the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion has submitted a lottery application for the renovation and redevelopment of the Pavilion. We have asked for £170,000 to develop the site and we await good news. As soon as we have any news we will let everyone know.


31st March 2011

A new not for profit Private limited by guarantee company has been formally set up at Companies House with the title of 'Friends Of Birchgrove Pavilion'. The new company has held several meetings over the past few weeks, and are very close to submitting an application to the Lottery for funding. Again if anybody is able to assist in the process or has any information that would benefit the new Company, please contact us.


7th March 2011

Swansea Council have agreed to offer the Birchgrove Community an opportunity to take responsibility for the Pavilion in Heol Las Park. Senior Swansea Councillors and Officers have stated that the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion will be given 2 months to make Grant applications to renovate and rebuild this historical building.

A new company will now be formed and a Lottery grant will be applied for. If anybody in the community would like to help us with this process, please get in touch.


15th February 2011

A meeting was held with Swansea Council, Directors of the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company and Birchgrove Community Association in the Civic Centre. As a group we discussed the formulation of a Partnership agreement of Swansea Council and the Birchgrove Community groups in making the Pavilion project a success. We now await the formal decision from the Council following the meeting, but we are very hopeful that we will be able to communicate some positive news very soon.


18th January 2011


Unfortunately the meeting with Cllr. Graham Thomas was canceled, and has now been re-arranged for 15th February. We will let everyone know the outcome of the meeting.


13th December 2010

A meeting with Cllr. Graham Thomas, Iwan Thomas from Swansea Council and members of the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company has been arranged for the 18th January 2011. As soon as we have some positive news following the meeting we will post it here.


1st December 2010

A meeting of the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company was held. Following the submission of the Business Plan to Swansea Council, the group agreed that it was beneficial to hold back on any further developments with the campaign, until we have had a discussion with Cllr. Graham Thomas. We were hopeful that a meeting date that we proposed of 13th December could be met by Cllr. Thomas.


17th November 2010

A formal Business Plan was issued to Cllr. Graham Thomas to demonstrate how the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion company will develop the Pavilion in Heol Las Park. See here for a copy of the covering letter for the submitted Business Plan. We await his comments.


16th November 2010

Representatives of the BCA and Cllr. Ryland Doyle held a meeting with Iwan Davies from Swansea Council. A formal Business Plan was presented to the Council on how the Pavilion in Heol Las Park could be saved from demolition and developed for the benefit of the community. Mr Davies was very impressed by the Business Plan and stated that this should now go forward to Cllr. Graham Thomas for further discussion.



15th November 2010

A letter has been sent to Cllr. Graham Thomas who is the Swansea Council representative on the Culture and Recreation committee stating the current situation with the Pavilion campaign. Cllr Thomas will be making the decision on whether the Pavilion will be demolished or not.


1st November 2010

A meeting of Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion was held. SCVS attended again and offered their expert advice on the project. Click here to view the meeting minutes.
 

26th October 2010

Agenda for meeting. Click Here.


12th October 2010

Latest meeting minutes for the new Friends of Pavilion company. Click here.


16th August 2010

A group meeting took place to discuss how the formation of a Company Limited by Guarantee should proceed. Excellent progress was made. It was agreed to send a letter to Swansea Council outlining the groups concerns. Click here to read the minutes.


9th August 2010

A follow up meeting with the Friends of Birchgrove Pavilion group was held to discuss the next stage in the process. Read the the meeting minutes here.


26th July 2010

A positive meeting was held with the newly formed Pavilion Group. A name was chosen for the new Company, and expert advice was given by the SCVS. Read the Meeting Minutes here.


19th July 2010

A follow up meeting was held with the newly formed Pavilion Group, to discuss the way forward. The meeting minutes can be seen here. Meeting 19th July 2010

30th June 2010

 

A meeting was held with key representatives of local football and cricket teams to discuss the progress of the Pavilion restoration project. See here for the Meeting minutes. Also detailed expert plans have been created courtesy of Paul Miller showing the

 

- Existing Heol Las Park Layout

- Existing Front/Rear Elevation Plan

- Existing Side Elevation Plan

- Existing Internal Layout

- Initial Proposed Internal Layout

 

 What are your views on the proposal? Add your comments to our guestbook here.

14th June 2010

 

A meeting was held with key representatives of local football and cricket teams to discuss the progress of the Pavilion restoration project. See here for the meeting minutes. Local building expert Paul Miller also attended and very kindly offered to prepare some plans of the Pavilion for further discussion.

8th June 2010

 

An important consultation has taken place between the Community Association and Birchgrove youth Club. The members of the youth club had some fantastic ideas on how the Pavilion should be developed. See Here for their ideas.


1st June 2010

 

Cllr Ryland Doyle has produced a paper setting out the options available to the Birchgrove Community. Read it here.


14th April 2010


The evening post finally reports the good news that the Pavilion gets a 6 month stay of execution. Read the papers report here. By the way it WILL NOT cost 163,000 pounds to repair.

8th April 2010

 

Good News! Swansea Council Councillors in a tense meeting held today agreed to defer the demolition of the Pavilion for 6 months. This has been achieved because of the dedication and commitment of your Community Association members in fighting to save the Pavilion on your behalf. We now need your support more than ever to save the Pavilion for current and future generations of all our families to enjoy.

 

Read here our presentation to Swansea Council Councillors.

8th April 2010

 

The Evening Post has reported the Pavilion looks likely to be demolished and cannot be saved. See their report here.


7th April 2010

 

A report to Swansea Council councillors concludes that the Pavilion is not wanted by the people of Birchgrove. This is obviously not true, with over 700 people adding their name to the "Save Heol Las Park Pavilion" campaign.

 

Take a look at their report here.


16th February 2010

 

In its current financial situation (debts of £17 million), the Council has no money available to renovate the pavilion. It would like to see a responsible community organisation take over the lease and ongoing responsibility of running it. That organisation could then apply for grants from fund providers such as the Assembly and Lottery. Approaches have been made to various organisations but so far none has indicated a willingness to take it on. The matter will next be discussed in Cabinet at the end of February. At the present time it seems likely that the pavilion will be demolished and, if this happens, the BCA will be supporting attempts to provide temporary accommodation so that cricket and senior football games can once again be played at Heol Las Park. It will also urge the Council to ensure that future developers of housing in the area contribute under Section 106 requirements towards recreational facilities in Heol Las Park.

7th January 2010


Swansea Council Chief Executive Paul Smith sent us an email detailing the Council view on the Pavilion. Read it here..


6th January 2010

 

An important meeting was held with BCA members, Council Leader Cllr. Chris Holley, other Councillors and Senior Council staff on 4th January.

 

Prior to the meeting a Petition containing over 700 names was delivered to Chief Executive Paul Smith in an attempt to STOP the demolition of the Community Pavilion in the Park. Read the letter here..

 

You can Read here the latest update from the meeting.






2nd January 2010

Snowperson.jpg

A Snowperson contemplates the future of Heol Las Park Pavilion


26 November 2009

 

The Evening Post kindly published our letter giving our response to last weeks Cabinet Decision. Read it Here . . .


23 November 2009 


The Association attended the Swansea Cabinet Meeting last week to put over the views of the Birchgrove residents. Read here our views on the current situation

21 November 2009

 

The Association has sent a letter to the Evening Post about the article they published on the 19th November. Read it here . . .

20th November 2009

 

Following the Cabinet meeting on the 19th November the Evening Post published an article. There were inaccuracies in this item and we will be contacting the paper soon to make them aware of these. Read the article here . . .

19th November 2009

 

Swansea Council Cabinet had a meeting to discuss the Pavilion. See here for the background papers for their meeting.

 

Prior to the meeting, the Pavilion issue was to be held in Private and not discussed publicly ?? Your Community Association challenged this and the Pavilion discussion was then allowed to be discussed in public. The Association attended the cabinet meeting on behalf of the Birchgrove public, and put across our views. See here to read the report which the Cabinet discussed. 

16th November 2009

 

In anticipation of the Cabinet meeting for Swansea Council on the 19th November, your Community Association has sent a letter to your Cabinet members asking for their support. Read it here . .

5th November 2009

 

The National Assembly South West Wales AM, Dr. Dai Lloyd attended the Community Association committee meeting in November and added his support to the Save the Pavilion Campaign. He has written a letter to Swansea Council.

Read the Letter Here.

Also take a look at the his website here where he has called for a Pavilion reprieve.

6th October 2009


The Association arranged a meeting with Swansea Council to discuss the Pavilion.

 

The Association has successfully negotiated a 3 month delay on any demolition works. Read the meeting minutes here.


5th October 2009

 

A public meeting was held in the Community Centre on the 30th September and over 50 people turned up to offer their support to the campaign to save the Pavilion from Demolition. There was also support from your elected representatives who turned up who were Alan Cairns AM, Cllr. Ryland Doyle and Cllr. Penny Matthews.

 

Read a copy of the meeting minutes.


2nd October 2009


Read the Statement from our Chairman Bernard Davies on the Park Pavilion.

 

We need your help by sending our letter to Swansea Council. Please download the letter, print it out, add your name and address, then post it. The more people who send the letter, the better chance we have of success. It only costs you a stamp!

21st September 2009

 

A letter  of Support has been received from Sian James MP. Read a copy of the letter.


Remember we need you to sign our petition to help the Campaign.

5th September 2009

 

Following the decision by Swansea Council to Demolish the Pavilion in Heol Las Park, your Community Association will fight this decision on your behalf, but we need your help. We need you to sign our petition. Please tell all your friends and neighbours in Birchgrove to log on and sign up.


You can also download a petition form to print off, and get your friends and neighbours to complete. Let us know by email and we will arrange collection of your completed forms.

3rd September 2009

 

The Association has been in discussion with Swansea Council for a number of months to try and get support for the full restoration of the Pavilion. Unfortunately a letter was received today indicating that the only 'viable option' is to demolish it. Read a copy of the letter. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on this latest development.

1st September 2009

 

A letter has been issued to all the elected representatives for Birchgrove, Llansamlet and Swansea East requesting their full support for the campaign to save the pavilion from demolition. Read a copy of the letter.


31st August 2009

 

Letter has been received from Birchgrove Colts AFC supporting the restoration of the Park Pavilion. Read a copy of the letter.

 18th August 2009

 

The committee met with Cllr Penny Matthews on a site visit to view the internal structure of the Pavilion. All who attended were of the same opinion that the Pavilion can be saved from demolition. A lot of work is needed to restore the building back to its former use, but demolition is not an option that should be considered. This was also the view of a famous local builder who gave his expert view to those present. Photographs of the visit can be found on our photo pages.

1st April 2009

 

At the Public meeting it was decided that residents wanted to keep the pavilion. It should be restored and upgraded to allow it to be used especially for toilet and changing facilities. The council are short of funds and it was agreed that the committee should be driving forward and applying for grants and funding from other sources.

Park working group to research any funding and grants available


5th November 2008

 

The Association has been informed by Swansea Council that it will cost £16,000 to knock down the Pavilion, however it would cost £111,000 to renovate it to today's standards. We have also been in contact with groups who use the current Pavilion, with Winch Wen Cricket Club and Birchgrove Rugby Club have offered their support to the campaign to keep the Pavilion.


1st October 2008

 

No progress with this campaign at the moment. The Association is investigating if grants are available to assist with the Pavilions restoration to its former glory. There are many groups and teams who use Heol Las Park, who would benefit from a restored Pavilion.







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