SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School: Stop the demolition

by SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School: Stop the demolition

by SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School
SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School
Case Owner
Help stop the demolition of our history.
2
days to go
£7,695
pledged of £10,000 stretch target from 177 pledges
Pledge now
SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School
Case Owner
Help stop the demolition of our history.
Pledge now

This case is raising funds for its stretch target. Your pledge will be collected within the next 24-48 hours (and it only takes two minutes to pledge!)

Latest: Sept. 17, 2023

COURT DATE: 27TH SEPTEMBER 2023

The Rolled-up Hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday 27th September

The hearing will be held in the Adminstrive Court on Park Street in Cardiff and will be a public hearing. All our supporters are e…

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HELP SAVE THIS HISTORIC SCHOOL FROM DEMOLITION

What is the aim of the campaign? We are seeking to quash the planning permission granted by Vale of Glamorgan Council which allows complete demolition of the school buildings. Nothing will remain...

Why is the school important? The former Intermediate School for Girls in Cowbridge was built in 1896 and designed by prominent Welsh architect Robert Williams. It was the first throughout Wales (and England) built specifically for the secondary education of girls. It also had purpose built science laboratories pioneering the way for women in STEM. Find out more here.

The school stands as an attractive reminder of a pivotal moment in Welsh history. We are seeking a Judicial Review of the planning decision so that the buildings can instead be converted and our heritage preserved. 

How will funds be used?  All monies raised will go directly towards legal fees. We are being represented by Susan Ring and Jack Robirosa of Harrison Grant Ring London who have instructed expert counsel Richard Harwood OBE KC of 39 Essex Chambers, London. 

Thank you for your support!

Update 7

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

Sept. 17, 2023

COURT DATE: 27TH SEPTEMBER 2023

The Rolled-up Hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday 27th September

The hearing will be held in the Adminstrive Court on Park Street in Cardiff and will be a public hearing. All our supporters are encouraged to attend if they are able to. As soon as we have further details of the time we will circulate them here.

As a result we will be cancelling the fundraising evening at Fonmon Castle the evening before so we can focus on the hearing and ensuring we reach our fundraising target for this stage.

As always, many thanks for the support.

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School Society

Update 6

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

July 31, 2023

WE ARE HEADING TO COURT!

The Judge dismissed Hafod’s arguments that the case was ‘frivolous’ and overturned his earlier decision to grant them substantial costs in the event that we lost the Judicial Review. We now await the date of the rolled-up hearing BUT the hard work starts now in ensuring that we raise sufficient funds to cover this.

To see this through we need to raise a final £25,000. So now we have to take a deep breath and go for it… 

We need 1,000 people to donate £25 so please help spread the word and share with all those interested in saving our heritage. We are also looking for volunteers to help with the fundraising effort so please get in touch if you want to join the team on [email protected] or give us a call on 07570 839272. 

Thank you to all that have supported us to this point - one final push!

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls Society

Update 5

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

July 10, 2023

DECISION ON COSTS WILL BE MADE TOMORROW

In our last update we let you know that we'd had the Judge's initial decision and that this was based on them only having half of the evidence in front of them due to a clerical error. As well as granting a rolled up hearing they also granted an increase in the costs payable to Hafod in the event that we lost the case - this meant the liability in the event that the campaign group lost the Judicial Review would be £20,000 rather than the £5,000 that should apply in these cases (an agreement called the Aarhaus Convention).

Tomorrow our legal team will put the case forward for quashing the decision to allow the rise and revert back to the Aarhus Convention cap of £5,000. If we are successful then we work towards a Judicial Review hearing that is likely to take place in September and we will need all the help we can to raise the funds required for the next step. Regretably, if we lose tomorrow we will need to withdraw as the amount that we would need to fundraise would double in order to cover costs in the event we lost in Court. 

So alot rides on tomorrow... we will update you as soon as we have been debriefed by our legal team. Once again, thank you to everyone who has supported us to this point. We hope tomorrow we are successful and can move ahead to the Judicial Review hearing in the autumn. 

Update 4

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

June 9, 2023

***IMPORTANT UPDATE: INITIAL COURT ORDER***

The Judge has given their response to our application for Judicial Review. Their decision was to grant an unusual form of hearing for this type of case, called a 'rolled up hearing'. This means that they would initially hear more evidence in court and then decide if they grant a full hearing or not. If they do, then the full hearing would take place the same day. This means incurring all of the costs of the full hearing even if it does not go ahead. 


HOWEVER, due to a clerical error the Judge did not have all of the information in front of them when making their decision. Therefore, our legal team is requesting that the Order is set aside and all of the information submitted is considered. We will have more information next week. 

Thank you for the support in getting us to this stage and as the fight continues and we start to prepare for the next fundraising stage. 

Meanwhile if you are a Lewis Capaldi fan and fancy your chances at being added to his guest list for his Chepstow concert then enter the raffle here for your chance to win two tickets for just £2!: https://raffall.com/.../enter-raffle-to-win-lewis... 

THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT AND WE'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED!
Update 3

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

April 1, 2023

INITIAL DECISION STILL AWAITED

We still await the initial decision as to whether we can proceed to a full hearing. 

We were told it was 'a waiting game' and the wait continues... As soon as we hear we will let all our supporters know. 

In the meantime we will use this time to continue to fundraise towards the legal costs so that we have the confidence to move forward with the case if we are granted permission. 

Thank you for all the support so far.

Update 2

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

March 8, 2023

FINAL PAPERS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED TODAY

After serving papers a few weeks ago, today we have filed our response to both the Council and Hafod's defences of the case. We can now expect an initial judgement in the next two weeks. 

Meanwhile we need to keep fundraising to reach our target of £10,000 by the end of the month to give us the confidence that we will be able to meet ongoing legal costs for a substantive hearing. Thank you for the support so far and please keep spreading the word so that we can continue the fight!

Update 1

SAVE Cowbridge Old Girls' School

Feb. 7, 2023

WE'VE REACHED OUR INITIAL TARGET!

HUGE THANKS to everyone who helped us reach our initial target of £5,000. This means we can continue the fight. In the next few weeks a Judge will consider our case and whether we can proceed to a full hearing. 

In the meantime our legal team will continue working on the case and so any help continuing to spread the word will be much appreciated. Our target for the next phase is £10,000 and we will be back soon with details of fundraising activites. 

THANK YOU!

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