English: This petition was submitted in March 2020 by Sara Pedersen, having collected 2,080 signatures online and 3,442 signatures on paper, and I'm sure that budding mathematicians across the Chamber have already calculated the total of 5,522 signatures. Llywydd, the text of the petition says: 'We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to protect the former Intermediate School for Girls' in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan. This was the first intermediate school to be built specifically for the education of girls in Wales (and England) and is the subject of a planning application for demolition. Failure to protect it will lead to the loss of a nationally important historic asset.' As Members will be aware, the Petitions Committee doesn't get involved in planning issues, but the issue of whether the building should have been listed by Cadw and the petitioner's call for an independent review of that decision was one we could act on. During the fifth Senedd, the previous Senedd's Petitions Committee, under the sterling leadership of my predecessor Chair, Janet Finch-Saunders, agreed to request a debate, but, as the Senedd business was restricted due to the pandemic, it was not possible to hold said debate. Supporters of the petition argue that the school, designed by architect Robert Williams, is, and I quote, 'a prominent and attractive testimony to a pivotal moment in Welsh history and the equal opportunities afforded to underprivileged girls of the time'. Llywydd, the committee has written to successive culture Ministers, who have defended Cadw's decision and their process. Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas in 2020 wrote, and, again, I quote: 'My officials have very carefully considered all of the arguments put forward for listing the building but I am afraid that it does not meet the criteria to be listed at the national level.' Following further requests by the campaigners for a review of the original decision by Cadw, the Minister, and, again, I quote, 'obtained independent advice from Richard Hayman, a building historian and archaeologist with particular expertise in historic buildings in Wales'. The Minister went on to support that decision not to list the building. In this Senedd, the new committee wrote to the current Minister, Dawn Bowden, who will be responding to today's debate, to see whether she would change anything as Minister. Dawn Bowden, the Minister for culture, replied and said 'there has been no new information presented that would reverse the decision not to list the building.' I know Members from right across the Chamber who are more familiar with the particular building in question today, and the area in question, and they will want to talk more about its architectural and historical values, and, again, the claims made for its significance beyond the local area. But, Llywydd, if I may, I want to come to a wider point in my contribution today: there must be more we can do in this Senedd to support communities to preserve buildings they value. Cowbridge school isn't an isolated case. As a committee, we've recently seen campaigners in the north petitioning to preserve Coleg Harlech - P-05-1130, 'The Welsh Government should re-purchase and refurbish Coleg Harlech' - another educational building seeking new purpose. I know that the clerking team of the Petitions Committee regularly reject other petitions where local people are seeking to challenge planning decisions that will result in the demolition of local buildings and the memories and the meanings that they represent. I look around the Chamber and at those online and I'm sure each of us in our own constituencies and regions have a building in own constituency or region that clearly fits this pattern, a building that doesn't make enough money or a building that has become too costly to maintain, but nonetheless holds that cherished place at the heart of our towns and villages and in the hearts of the people who live there.
Welsh: Cyflwynwyd y ddeiseb hon ym mis Mawrth 2020 gan Sara Pedersen, ar ôl casglu 2,080 o lofnodion ar-lein a 3,442 o lofnodion ar bapur, ac rwy'n siŵr bod egin fathemategwyr ar draws y Siambr eisoes wedi cyfrifo'r cyfanswm o 5,522 o lofnodion. Lywydd, mae testun y ddeiseb yn dweud: 'Galwn ar Gynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru i annog Llywodraeth Cymru i amddiffyn yr hen 'Ysgol Ganolradd i Ferched' y Bont-faen, Bro Morgannwg. Hon oedd yr ysgol ganolradd gyntaf i gael ei hadeiladu yn benodol ar gyfer addysgu merched yng Nghymru (a Lloegr), ac mae cais cynllunio wedi ei gyflwyno i'w dymchwel. Byddai methu ei gwarchod yn arwain at golli adeilad hanesyddol o bwysigrwydd cenedlaethol.' Fel y gŵyr yr Aelodau, nid yw'r Pwyllgor Deisebau yn ymyrryd mewn materion cynllunio, ond roedd y cwestiwn a ddylai'r adeilad fod wedi'i restru gan Cadw a galwad y deisebydd am adolygiad annibynnol o'r penderfyniad hwnnw yn un y gallem weithredu arno. Yn ystod y pumed Senedd, cytunodd Pwyllgor Deisebau'r Senedd flaenorol, o dan arweiniad rhagorol fy rhagflaenydd yn y gadair, Janet Finch-Saunders, i ofyn am ddadl, ond gan fod busnes y Senedd wedi'i gyfyngu oherwydd y pandemig, nid oedd yn bosibl cynnal y ddadl honno. Mae cefnogwyr y ddeiseb yn dadlau bod yr ysgol, a gynlluniwyd gan y pensaer Robert Williams, yn '[d]ystiolaeth amlwg a deniadol o gyfnod pwysig yn hanes Cymru pan ddarparwyd cyfleoedd cyfartal i ferched difreintiedig yr oes'. Lywydd, mae'r pwyllgor wedi ysgrifennu at Weinidogion diwylliant olynol, sydd wedi amddiffyn penderfyniad Cadw a'u proses. Ysgrifennodd yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas yn 2020, ac unwaith eto, rwy'n dyfynnu: 'Mae fy swyddogion wedi ystyried yr holl ddadleuon a gyflwynwyd ar gyfer rhestru'r adeilad yn ofalus iawn ond mae arnaf ofn nad yw'n bodloni'r meini prawf ar gyfer ei restru ar y lefel genedlaethol.' Yn dilyn ceisiadau pellach gan yr ymgyrchwyr am adolygiad o benderfyniad gwreiddiol Cadw, fe wnaeth y Gweinidog, 'ofyn am gyngor annibynnol gan Richard Hayman, hanesydd adeiladau ac archeolegydd sydd ag arbenigedd penodol mewn adeiladau hanesyddol yng Nghymru'. Aeth y Gweinidog rhagddo i gefnogi'r penderfyniad i beidio â rhestru'r adeilad. Yn y Senedd hon, ysgrifennodd y pwyllgor newydd at y Gweinidog presennol, Dawn Bowden, a fydd yn ymateb i'r ddadl heddiw, i weld a fyddai'n newid unrhyw beth fel Gweinidog. Atebodd Dawn Bowden, y Gweinidog diwylliant, a dywedodd 'ni chyflwynwyd unrhyw wybodaeth newydd a fyddai'n gwrthdroi'r penderfyniad i beidio â rhestru'r adeilad.' Gwn am Aelodau o bob rhan o'r Siambr sy'n fwy cyfarwydd â'r adeilad penodol dan sylw heddiw, a'r ardal dan sylw, a byddant am siarad mwy am ei werth pensaernïol a hanesyddol, ac unwaith eto, yr honiadau a wnaed ynglŷn â'i arwyddocâd y tu hwnt i'r ardal leol. Ond Lywydd, os caf, rwyf am ddod at bwynt ehangach yn fy nghyfraniad heddiw: rhaid bod mwy y gallwn ei wneud yn y Senedd hon i gynorthwyo cymunedau i gadw adeiladau y maent yn eu hystyried yn werthfawr. Nid ysgol y Bont-faen yw'r unig achos. Fel pwyllgor, yn ddiweddar gwelsom ymgyrchwyr yn y gogledd yn deisebu i gadw Coleg Harlech - P-05-1130, 'Dylai Llywodraeth Cymru ail-brynu ac adnewyddu Coleg Harlech' - adeilad addysgol arall sy'n galw am ddiben newydd. Gwn fod tîm clercio'r Pwyllgor Deisebau yn gwrthod deisebau eraill yn rheolaidd lle mae pobl leol yn ceisio herio penderfyniadau cynllunio a fydd yn arwain at ddymchwel adeiladau lleol a'r atgofion a'r ystyr sydd ynghlwm wrthynt. Edrychaf o gwmpas y Siambr ac ar y rheini ar-lein ac rwy'n siŵr bod gan bob un ohonom yn ein hetholaethau a'n rhanbarthau ein hunain adeilad sy'n amlwg yn cyd-fynd â'r patrwm hwn, adeilad nad yw'n gwneud digon o arian neu adeilad sydd wedi mynd yn rhy gostus i'w gynnal, ond adeilad ag iddo le pwysig ynghanol ein trefi a'n pentrefi ac yng nghalonnau'r bobl sy'n byw yno.