Public authority under FOIA and the EIR. Escalation: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW). Court: Administrative Court (judicial review). Correspondence: 71 emails (43 sent, 28 received).
We reply as one response to your further emails: Cadw has no separate complaints process, the Complaints Advice Team already said it cannot investigate, and we have nothing further to add without contemporary evidence; information under FOI/EIR requests will not be destroyed, and we see no merit in continuing to correspond.
“it would be inappropriate for me to speculate on the events around the listing assessment without our own contemporary evidence being available”
I ask you to confirm by 4 November 2026 whether your 21 October email is the final response to complaint TO/HF/05677/26 or whether a further stage exists, to explain the policy behind restricting correspondence, and to extend preservation to listed records including the 1988 listing file and inspection photographs.
“Please confirm, by 4 November 2026, whether your email of 21 October is the Welsh Government's final response to the complaint”
We send our disclosure response to ATISN 26-0010 on retention and destruction schedules, noting that some of the requested information may not be specifically recorded.
“Thank you for your request which I received on 10 October”
We confirm receipt of your request of 28 September 2026 and attach our response letter covering Welsh Office/Cadw papers for Great House Farm from the second half of 1988.
“Thank you for your request which was received on 28 September 2026. Please see attached response.”
I ask for an internal review of ATISN 26-0010, questioning whether any actual record of destruction, transfer or retention exists for the farm's files, which schedule entry was relied on, whether Welsh Office schedules are held, and how searches were conducted.
“Please confirm whether the Welsh Government holds any record of an actual destruction, transfer or retention decision for files in those series”
I ask for the substantive response to ATISN 26-0010 on retention and disposal schedules as soon as possible, particularly any covering Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr records from 1988-1996.
“I would be grateful for the substantive response as soon as possible, particularly in relation to any schedules covering records of Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr, Llandough, 1988–1996”
Following the reply on ATISN 27021, I ask Cadw to confirm whether any inventory, closure note or disposal schedule survives for the 1988 listing file, which successor or predecessor bodies might hold related material, and the recorded reason and date for any disposal decision.
“Any recorded reason for the disposal decision and the date it was made”
We confirm receipt on 10 October of the request for existing records behind the 1988 listing-file disposal finding, now logged as ATISN 26-0009, and will respond by 6 November 2026.
We acknowledge receipt of the family's request for information on retention and disposal schedules, reference ATISN 26-0010, and enclose an acknowledgement letter.
“Further to your recent request for information, please find an acknowledgement letter attached”
I ask Cadw/Welsh Government whether any recorded information survives that supports or qualifies the 1988 finding that the Great House Farm listing file was 'most likely' destroyed, requesting any inventories, schedules or search records, and for this to be logged as a new FOI request if outside ATISN 27021's scope.
“I ask whether any pre-existing recorded information remains that supports or qualifies the “most likely destroyed” conclusion or documents the file’s lifecycle”
I request Welsh Office/Welsh Government retention and destruction schedules covering agricultural tenancy, land and rural policy files from 1970-1997, plus any record of whether files relating to Great House Farm, Western Ground Rents Ltd or BP Properties Ltd were destroyed, transferred or retained.
“The retention and destruction schedules (or equivalent policy documents) that applied, or still apply, to former Welsh Office / Welsh Government file series covering agricultural tenancies, land ownership or compulsory purchase, rural depopulation, or related policy in the period 1970–1997”
We confirm that Planning and Environment Decisions Wales holds no records for Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr, Llandough-juxta-Penarth, or for planning applications 89/01396/OUT and 92/00671/RES, after searching all electronic records.
We acknowledged receipt of the request on 29 September as ATISN 27589, listed the three points sought, and confirmed a response will be provided by 26 October 2026.
I thanked you for acknowledging ATISN 27589 and the 26 October deadline, clarified that the possession and demolition dates I gave were contextual only, and asked you to confirm that all relevant records will be preserved pending the response and any review.
“Please also expressly confirm that records falling within the scope of ATISN 27589, including any relevant historic listing, inspection, photographic, administrative and file-disposal records, will be preserved”
We sent an automatic out-of-office reply confirming the staff member is away and will deal with emails after returning on 1 October 2026, with an alternative contact for urgent matters.
“I will respond to my e-mails on my return (1/10/26).”
We confirmed receipt of the correspondence by the Complaints Advice Team, explained that our policy only covers maladministration or service failure, and said relevant officials would respond directly.
“The Policy does not allow us to consider complaints about a decision which has not involved maladministration.”
I restated the stage-one complaint (ticket #628635887) about Cadw's 1988 assessment of Great House Farm, asking for a written decision on its adequacy, confirmation on reviewing the HER entry, and details of what 1988 records survive or were destroyed.
“I am not asking Cadw to determine title. I am asking Cadw to answer for its own role, decisions and professional handling of the 1988 assessment.”
I sent a supplement correcting three points in my 20 September letter on HER GGAT02038s, clarifying dates, noting a Heneb complaint acknowledged on 29 September, and asking when current section 196 guidance was issued and whether it addresses classification.
“What I still need is confirmation whether that 2017 text has been substantively reviewed since sections 194 to 196 came into force on 4 November 2024”
We automatically acknowledge the family's email to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, stating a 20-working-day response target and noting the statutory deadlines for planning appeals, enforcement appeals and judicial review.
“PEDW aim to respond to Feedback/Complaints within 20 working days from day of receipt”
I sent a preservation notice to each recipient for Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr, Llandough, listing titles WA231076, WA240304, WA513690, WA735527 and planning refs 89/01396/OUT and 92/00671/RES, asking them not to destroy or transfer any related records.
“Please preserve, and do not destroy, transfer out of your custody without a written receipt, or dispose of, any file, plan, photograph, tape or electronic record”
I filed an FOI request following up on 26FOI 103, asking the Welsh Government and Cadw for any 1988 records on listing consideration, inspection or demolition of Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr, and any disposal of those files.
“Any consideration, between 1 July and 31 December 1988, of listing, spot-listing or emergency listing of Great House Farm”
We send an automated acknowledgement confirming receipt of the family's email to the Welsh Government, noting no paper copy is needed and explaining when a response will follow.
“This is an automated response to thank you for your correspondence to the Welsh Government”
The family supplements its 20 September complaint with seven additional points, including whether Cadw knew of a 1989 planning officer's report noting site buildings should have been retained, and asks Cadw to confirm what a May search of files found.
“states that buildings on the site should be retained, however were unfortunately demolished a little while ago”
The family explains the 17 September complaint never reached Cadw due to bounced emails, re-serves it unchanged, asks for a complaint reference, and requests that a misrouted visitor-services reference (#628635887) be closed.
“I am therefore re-serving the complaint on you directly, unchanged”
The family lodges a formal complaint to Cadw about its handling of the 1988 listing decision for Great House Farm, citing a newly found 1 October 1982 GGAT consultation letter identifying the site as H2.1 for development.
“six years before the 1988 demolition, the archaeological and planning system already contained site-specific information”
Cadw confirms it has now released all records it holds on the 1988 listing decision and has nothing further to add, directing the family to the Welsh Government complaints process if still dissatisfied.
“we have now provided all the information that we hold, which taken together with our previous emails, I consider to be self-explanatory”
The family sends further documents, including a simulated AI court application, saying Cadw's role may be small but must still be fully recorded and scrutinised, and may later file a formal complaint.
“Any possible institutional failure you might have identified isn't the ice berge here”
I flagged newly found GGAT planning papers at Glamorgan Archives referring to the site as a 'county treasure' and asked whether Cadw can establish what pre-1988 archaeological evidence was actually considered in the 1988 decision.
“Can Cadw establish from its surviving records what pre-existing archaeological information concerning Great House Farm was actually considered”
We confirm all records we hold on Great House Farm have already been released under ATISN 27021, explain that 1988 retention policy for unsuccessful listings was likely around three years, and direct HER queries to Heneb.
“it is likely that records of unsuccessful listings were only retained for a short period, usually about 3 years”
I distinguished releasing all surviving records from proving the evidential basis of the 1988 decision, and asked Cadw to confirm that its records do not establish what evidence or consultation underpinned the December 1988 decision.
We confirm we will treat the 10 August revised report as the operative version and expect to provide a substantive response by Friday 28 August, allowing for staff annual leave.
“we shall use this revised report (10th August 26) instead of the previous version”
I confirmed receipt of your note agreeing the revised report and the 28 August timetable, and sent an additional analysis of the evidence and chronology to assist your internal review.
“an A.I analysis of the evidence and chronology I hold”
I submitted a revised, more measured version of my report dated 10 August 2026, asking only for realistic administrative steps such as explanation, record correction and acknowledgement of the 1988 record-keeping gap.
“It does not claim unlawfulness, seek compensation from Cadw, or demand a public inquiry.”
I submitted a forensic review of Cadw's 1988 assessment of Great House Farm, asking for answers to twenty questions, preservation of surviving material, correction of heritage records, and investigation by relevant authorities.
We confirm all records were checked, no further information or destruction record exists, and no transfer lists to the RCAHMW survive; you may complain to the Information Commissioner if dissatisfied.
“we do not have any further information which would help with your search for the relevant information”
I asked Welsh Government to clarify the evidential basis for its original statement that Great House Farm records were transferred or destroyed, and to confirm whether any consultation records, inspection reports or case files survive from 1988.
“on what evidential basis was that statement made?”
I point out that the original response and internal review give conflicting accounts of record transfer or destruction, and ask for the evidence behind each version plus any transfer or destruction records.
“These appear to be materially different positions”
We confirm the two 1988 photographs relate to a listing inspection, that no official file survives, that it was most likely destroyed, and that all eight search categories were checked with no further records found.
I thank you for confirming the 1988 inspection details and ask whether your searches also covered internal memos, press files, and correspondence with the Royal Commission, Welsh Office and planning authorities.
“could you please confirm whether the searches undertaken for ATISN 27021 specifically included records such as”
I follow up with Cadw after their internal review, asking them to clarify the documentary basis for the original listing decision, the nature of the 1988 inspection photographs, and the evidence behind the claim that records may have been destroyed.
“Please therefore identify the documentary basis upon which the original response concluded that the property was assessed”
I clarified that my correspondence with Cadw was an information request and review under FOI/EIR regarding Great House Farm's listing history, not a complaint, and asked it be recorded accordingly.
“I would therefore be grateful if the matter could be treated and recorded as an information request and internal review under FOI/EIR, rather than as a complaint”
We confirmed receipt of the internal review request, identified the case officer handling it, and attached an acknowledgement letter setting out the key dates.
“I will be the case officer dealing with the review, please see the attached acknowledgement letter with key dates”
I requested an internal review of the ATISN 27021 response, arguing the searches were inadequate given 1988 press reports of Cadw's site visit and assessment, and asked for confirmation of what searches were actually carried out.
“I am not satisfied that the searches undertaken were sufficient to establish that no other relevant records are held or can be accounted for”
I asked Cadw for full disclosure of all 1970s-1990s records on Great House Farm, citing a 1988 South Wales Echo article reporting Cadw's consideration of emergency listing for the farmhouse.
“officials from Cadw were actively considering an appeal to the Secretary of State for Wales to protect the farmhouse as a listed building”
I asked Cadw and Welsh Government to make sure their searches under ATISN 27021 cover both digital and archived historical records held by them, predecessor bodies or contracted advisors, with a response by 25 June 2026.
“searches include both digital and archived/historical records held by Cadw, the Welsh Government, and any predecessor bodies or contracted advisors”
I send Welsh Government/Cadw a formal notice demanding preservation of all records and ask for full disclosure of historic, planning and occupancy information on Great House Farm and the Williams/Buckler family, requesting everything be supplied digitally.
“I require all documents to be delivered digitally via email attachment or secure electronic download link”
I formally request all recorded information on Great House Farm's listing consideration, assessments, correspondence, and reasons it was never listed, plus any photographs or plans, preferably in electronic form.
“I am seeking recorded information rather than an explanation or opinion created for the purpose of this request”
I resend the same formal request for all records on Great House Farm's listing consideration, assessments, correspondence, and reasons it was never listed.
“I would prefer the information in electronic form”
We confirm that Great House Farm and its barn were assessed and rejected for listing in the 1988 community survey of Llandough, and enclose two photographs from 29 July 1988. We hold no other electronic records, continue searching paper files including Welsh Office material, and suggest several archives that may hold further information.
“they were assessed and rejected for listing in the 1988 community survey of Llandough”
I tell Cadw I have compiled my evidence and timeline, suspect misconduct over my family's manorial title and historic dispossession, and formally request, as an FOI request, all records Cadw holds concerning my family and the estate without delay.
“consider this a freedom of information request. I require of CADW answers. Records. All you hold concerning my family and estate.”
We acknowledge your enquiry and note this mailbox isn't monitored over weekends or bank holidays; if the matter is urgent you're asked to call the number provided.
“this mailbox is not monitored over the weekends or bank holidays”
I write as the family's descendant about the destruction of Great House Farm and the BP v Buckler case, outline our online archive at bpvsbuckler.datro.xyz, and ask for record review, clarification on any heritage investigation, and guidance on accessing archival and planning material.
“Review and preservation consideration of all surviving records connected to Great House Farm”
We tell you most of your report falls outside Cadw's remit, note any 1888 find would likely appear in antiquarian press or local museums, and confirm no designated assets on Cof Cymru but two Archwilio records (GGAT03586s and GGATE003872); we direct you to RCAHMW, Heneb and the Vale of Glamorgan LPA.
“there are no designated historic assets relevant to this topic”
I submit a formal report describing suspected dispossession and archaeological suppression linked to Great House Farm, citing an 1888 discovery, disputed 1987 planning descriptions, and a 1974 licence issue, and raise concerns of legal identity misrepresentation.
I ask Senedd members to set up a petition and a public inquiry into what I see as a serious historic injustice to my family over the destruction of Great House Farm and the 1987 BP v Buckler case, raising land, legal and human-rights concerns.
I ask Cadw under the Freedom of Information Act for all records on Great House Farm's listing refusal and demolition, including assessments, internal correspondence, archaeological notices, any Marconi-related material, and 1980s listing policy, with reasons for withholdings and confirmation of receipt.
“subject to a refusal to list and subsequent demolition in or around the late 1980s”
We explain this falls outside our jurisdiction as we only provide an impartial planning appeals service with no appeal before us, and we direct you to Planning Aid Wales for advice.
We acknowledge your enquiry about a possible acquiring-authority route for the former family farmland; this automated reply is the only response unless one is needed, and we ask you to wait up to 10 working days, or call us if urgent.
“we would ask that you wait 10 working days before contacting us again”
I say the material sent doesn't match the 23 houses actually built and reiterate that I have found deception and concealment around the case, which is why I am reopening it.
I ask whether a compulsory purchase route could be used to acquire the 23 properties built on former family farmland from BP v Buckler (1987) and transfer ownership back to my family, requesting details of the correct authority and process.
“whether an acquiring authority could lawfully consider using compulsory purchase powers to acquire the 23 properties that now sit on this former farmland”
