FURIOUS locals say their town is being ruined after developers bulldozed a beloved landmark without their permission.
A historic Victorian terrace in Cardiff, Wales, is being replaced with an “eyesore” 30-storey tower block.
One resident in the Welsh capital said he felt “sick to the stomach” as he watched in horror as the 19th-century crescent was demolished.
GT Guildford Crescent Ltd has been accused of “brazen cultural vandalism” after demolishing the building.
Officials at Cardiff council had insisted that what remained of Guildford Crescent should be saved before the property giant took matters into their own hands.
The developer, which is planning to build a block of 272 flats on the site, claimed the terrace was “unsafe" after knocking it down before the council was given an opportunity to consider its request to demolish it.
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Campaigners, who previously collected 20,000 signatures in support of saving the historic crescent, have now hit out at Galliford Try, which own GT Guildford Crescent Ltd.
An office worker who has lived all his life in the city told The Sun Online: “I can’t believe they’ve got away with this.
“It was an iconic building and they’ve just smashed it to the ground.
“Me and my friends used to come here for a night out at least once a week and all those memories are literally dust.
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"I felt sick to the stomach watching it disappear before my eyes.”
Another Cardiff resident, lab technician Harri Little, 35, said: "To be honest it's all a bit weird.
"I've walked past it lots of time in the past and it's devastating that it got knocked down.
"I think the builders should put it back the way it was. It might have looked interesting mixed with the new high-rise building they’ve got planned.
"But saying it was unsafe and would have fallen down is a farce, isn't it?
"I know everything is changing and that has to happen, but it's important to save as much of the city's historic architecture wherever they can."
Cinematography student Sanal Paul, 23, shook his head as he said: "I've only been here a year studying, but I think it's sad when some of an old city's history is lost unnecessarily .
"I understand they were going to leave the old front and it was going to form part of this new building, mixing the old with the new.
"But now the builders say it was unsafe and had to be taken down, but it feels like the developers took matters into their own hands and decided to destroy it."
But a builder at the site, who asked not to be identified, pushed back, saying: “People don’t know the whole story – just what’s been said in the local media.
"The reporting has been biased and, frankly, a bit sentimental.
"The structure just wasn’t safe and it needed pulling down safely before it fell on someone."
It comes after WalesOnline reported that the building was no longer structurally safe.
I felt sick to the stomach watching it disappear before my eyes
Teacher Marty Rowling, 43, said; "There was such a delay on this work to begin with here, but now it looks like commerciality has won again.
"There are too many instances like this where the history of Cardiff is getting lost and forgotten.
"It's a shame because Wales has its own identity, which is different to England and Scotland, but at this rate Cardiff is going to end up like every other city in the UK, with lots of high-rise blocks. Wales will lose its individuality.
"Cardiff is becoming all about hosting hen and stag weekends nowadays, instead of its proud history being celebrated.
"It's getting a reputation of being the Newcastle of the South.
"I appreciate it's bringing in the money, but you'd hope that the capital city of Wales would aim higher than that."
Louis Dinham, 22, added: "I've only been living in Cardiff for a couple of years, but I've been told that when it was there it was legendary and that it was also a listed building.
"But overall I think Cardiff are doing a good job with the city and I kind of support what they are attempting to do here.
"They are keeping a lot of old traditional architecture in the city and that's a good thing.
“When you walk around the docks area, you will suddenly see an old sea anchor buried into the pavement reminding you of the city's heritage. I love seeing those kind of things.”
Rhain, a 55-year-old civil servant, said: "It's important to keep improving the city, but they must take things like health and safety into account when they are taking on complex projects.
"We need a vibrant city so there is life here and jobs for the youngsters.
"But all too often we see more and more parts of the city's heritage disappear and that's a great shame.
"It should be a priority to keep our heritage, especially for the city's future generations."
Restaurant worker Phoebe Ross, 22, said: "I was born and brought up in Singapore, which is a very modern city, but they made sure to protect its traditional buildings where possible.
"Cardiff is such a beautiful place with a rich history and it's shocking if it keeps loosing parts of it because things might fall down.
“The old terrace is on the opposite side of the street to the restaurant where I work and it would have made the place look so much more interesting if they’d preserved it.
"It would be much more attractive than having a modern, glass tower block there.
"Surely it can't be that difficult to keep an old frontage? They do it all the time in most big cities.
"Cardiff is the capital of Wales so they should try to protect as much of its heritage as possible and not just shove up new buildings.”
They took it upon themselves to remove part of the facade without telling us and without permission
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The developer put in a Section 73 application to try to modify their planning permission.
"This proposes to 'remove & rebuild' the facade as part of the development.
“This is a live application. Before a decision was taken on the Section 73 application, they took it upon themselves to remove part of the facade without telling us and without permission.”
They added: "The Council would like to make it clear that the removal of the façade on Guildford Crescent by GT Guildford Crescent Limited, ahead of any formal decision being reached on their recent application, is completely unacceptable, and we will be exploring all possible avenues to ensure the developer is held to account for the breach of their planning consent.
“Following immediate investigations, the developer has since provided a structural engineer's report that advises that the 'wall was unsafe, presented a serious risk and should be demolished immediately in order to make the site safe and to prevent injury or harm to operatives on site, and members of the public'.
“A building control surveyor from the council has since visited the site and has confirmed the engineer's assessment that the remainder of the terraced frontage must, regrettably, now be removed for safety reasons.
“The council has made it very clear to the developer on several occasions that no work should be undertaken on the façade unless and until formal approval was given on any proposed changes to the existing planning permission.
“It appears that this advice has been ignored, with the recent safety concerns resulting solely from their decision to commence development and introduce additional risk to operatives on site.
“The matter will be reported to the Planning Committee on October 6th, where Members will be advised of the status of the site and will need to consider the merits of the current proposal to rebuild the façade, along with any necessary action required to address the recent breach of planning.”
A Galliford Try spokesperson said the facade had to be demolished due to immediate safety concerns.
The spokesperson said: “Following the commencement of preparatory works at the Guildford Crescent site, our structural engineers WSP attended site and indicated that the demolition of the façade was required for safety reasons.
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“As a responsible contractor, we take health and safety seriously and took swift action to prevent any potential incident.
“As has been previously stated, the facade will be recreated as part of the development to retain the historic character of the crescent and ensure the community benefits from the streetscape.”
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