By Steve Stratford, Deputy Editor

So that's it then. The historic Penmorfa (Gogarth Abbey) Hotel on Llandudno's West Shore will definitely be demolished, the last vestiges of what was once a proud, interesting and much-loved building will be reduced to rubble by a developer's wrecking ball.

To be honest, it was no surprise to me when Conwy planners finally rubber-stamped developer Anwyl's application to finish off Penmorfa once and for all. The campaigners worked hard to try and get the building listed, tried desperately to prove there was a genuine link between Lewis Carroll, Alice Liddell and Llandudno, but after all was said and done, it just wasn't enough.

The two modern wings of Penmorfa had been removed many months ago, and Anwyl then saw fit to leave the original shell of the building while planners and campaigners oohed and aaahed over the rest of it. But the fact is Anwyl were specifically told they could demolish the modern wings if they maintained and incorporated the original building's facade into their new apartment development.

That obviously didn't meet with Anwyl's needs, so instead they left it to fall into tragic and criminal disrepair, open to the elements, available to squatters, pigeons, seagulls and a myriad other vagrants. Anwyl simply did not care what happened to that building, and when pressed, cited the fact they'd had a report conducted which confirmed Penmorfa had no architectural merit.

It's easy to get reports, figures and statistics to support your case. But there was no avoiding the fact that the way Penmorfa was treated by Anwyl was bang out of order. Maybe there isn't a shred of evidence that Lewis Carroll came within 100 miles of the property, but so what? There was enough of a link between the resort and the fairytale to support a mini tourist trade, with an Alice in Wonderland Museum, a White Rabbit statue, an annual Alice competition, and a good number of local roads and streets named appropriately (Liddell Drive and Park, Lewis Close, Alice Gardens).

Llandudno was known in its own small way for its connections to Alice in Wonderland, just like Nottingham is for Robin Hood and Tintagel for King Arthur. To destroy the one specific thing that maintained a physical link between fact and myth was wrong, and the developer should be ashamed of being directly responsible for that. And Conwy County Council should be just as ashamed for not enforcing their caveat and allowing Anwyl to make a mockery of democratic local government decision-making.

Now when tourists come from the United States, Japan and Germany to Llandudno to capitalise on its links to a much-loved classic children's story that adults adore, they will find nothing but a caged up stone rabbit and an under-publicised museum that now has that bit less of a claim to a link with Alice.

"Where's the proof Lewis Carroll was ever here?" they cry. "In bits," we reply. "But we shall remember it with fondness."

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