Part of a 200-year-old Grade II listed boundary wall belonging to the Welsh castle used on I'm A Celebrity has been demolished, sparking complaints. The section of Gwrych Castle's historic wall, which separates the road from land belonging to Abergele councillor Andrew Wood, was removed at the weekend over claims it had become dangerous.
One local resident reported the demolition of the wall to Conwy County Borough Council’s planning department. Another who watched it take place said they were "shocked" at what they were seeing.
However, Cllr Wood - who owns the adjacent land, which was once part of the original Gwrych Castle estate - said: "The wall has been previously extensively damaged by a third-party vehicle and was all loose and unsafe and had tumbled into the field." Also a member of the local planning committee, he added that the work had been done in order to fit a new water connection to a nearby smallholding.
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"The connection required had to go under the road and under the wall. The 750mm trench required by statute by Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru) for the underground supply was excavated by a professional contractor on Saturday," he added.
"The engineer deemed the wall to be very unsafe, said it had been undermined and condemned it. He said that it could be a danger to the public due to the weight of the stones."
However, NorthWalesLive reports that Cllr Wood also confirmed that a team of stonemasons had been booked next month "to take the wall back to the two-metre original height in line with the repair needed". A statement from the Gwrych Castle estate said that it shared residents' concerns but that it wasn't aware of "the full circumstances surrounding the wall being damaged at this stage."
It added that a planning application to turn the surrounding land into "allotments and a small caravan site" had been recently withdrawn. In addition, it stated that "Cadw and other organisations objected to the plans as it would ruin the listed landscape."
A spokeswoman for Conwy council said: "Planning Services look into any such concerns that are submitted to them. Valid complaints will always be investigated as a matter of course."
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