Cardiff's Gaiety cinema can be demolished, councillors say

The Gaiety, seen here in 2016, was occupied by anarchist squatters in 2012

Plans to demolish a historic cinema in Cardiff have been approved.

The Gaiety Grand Cinema on City Road opened in 1912, later housing bingo halls, a bowling alley and even anarchist squatters.

Cardiff councillors have backed plans to replace the building with 114 student bedsits over five floors, above a ground-floor cafe or restaurant.

Planning officers said the site needed redeveloping, and rejected claims of an "oversupply" of student rooms locally.

The four ward councillors for the area - including the city's current Lord Mayor Dan De'Ath - wrote a letter of objection on behalf of local residents, claiming it was an "unsustainable overdevelopment in this already saturated market".

City Road - some time after 1912 - with the Gaiety Cinema on the left

How the new block of student flats would look

They pointed out there were already nearly 1,000 purpose-built student rooms in or near City Road, and claimed oversupply across Cardiff meant some developers were seeking permission to rent to non-students.

"While students are always a welcome part of the community, the sheer volume creates an imbalance," the letter said.

"There is a danger that local retail, commercial, and social facilities will end up being more suited to students rather than the whole of Roath residents."

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However, planning officers said the site was "a derelict eyesore in continuing decline" with a pressing need for redevelopment.

In a report to the planning committee, they said there was "no compelling, credible evidence of an oversupply" of purpose-built student accommodation in Cardiff, saying: "The number of bed spaces remains significantly less than the student population."

Furthermore, the report added that the development would ease pressure on family housing by providing "an affordable, viable alternative" to an estimated 23 houses of multiple occupation which that number of students would otherwise need.