Madam,

After over 10 years of ever-increasing agony for the Catholic parishioners of Aberystwyth, Bishop Tom Burns has made his decision.

They will once more worship in a church, in a renovation of the 1970 church of the Welsh Martyrs, fondly remembered but poorly built and soon abandoned, tucked away in Penparcau.

The agony of the parish has been acute in the past four years, especially for those contemplating the funerals of loved ones, if not their own and for those arranging marriages, or for those who simply drop in and find comfort within a church. As recently as three years ago there was a proposal to build a new church on the Queen’s Road site for £2m. Things have changed. Hundreds of thousands of pounds had by then already been spent by the Diocese, on a string of abortive plan-ning applications. The hopes of a crock of gold in Queen’s Road, and again in Penparcau, were dashed. And after the closure of St Winifride’s, much has had to be spent on renting premises. Now we are broke. Welsh Martyrs will be refurbished (a decision in which parishioners had no say whatsoever) and the work will be paid for by a loan to the parish arranged by the Diocese. The Diocese dictates, the parish pays.So Welsh Martyrs will be refurbished. At far less cost, St Winifride’s, a church of comparable size, could be brought back into use, and then, given time, properly refurbished. A plan exists and had planning consent. Were St Winifride’s to be restored, there could be substantial grants available, from several sources. The Diocese has turned a deaf ear to all mention of such matters. Beyond the question of old-build or new-build is a more pro-found one: where? With its constantly changing population of visitors, students, and temporary workers, not to mention the car-less, in Aberystwyth there can only be one sensible answer: in town.

Yours etc

Daniel Huws

Penrhyncoch.