Maxamillious
11-03-2007, 09:20 AM
Is it the end for Coney Beach amusements?
Nov 3 2007 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo
ONE of South Wales’ best known seaside fairgrounds could be sold off to help create a premier beach resort.
The plans for selling Porthcawl’s Coney Beach Amusement Park to developers will be discussed at a Bridgend council meeting on Tuesday.
The authority needs to buy the sites of the fair and Sandy Bay in Porthcawl either by compulsory purchase order or by agreement with owners the Evans family before ambitious proposals to transform the resort can be moved forward.
The scheme, called the Seven Bays Project, aims to create hundreds of houses and more leisure and community facilities, including a supermarket.
A 120-page council report detailing public opinion agreed the funfair needed to be moved and scaled down.
But, while business owners, residents and resort visitors welcomed plans to improve facilities, some were concerned about the fair’s future.
Brian Limb, a barman at Cabin Bar, next to the amusement park, said: “They have to cater for the young people as well as the adults.”
Regular Porthcawl visitor Lorna Griffiths, 62, from Gilfach Goch, said she hoped the fair would stay as it is.
“It wouldn’t be Porthcawl without the fair,” she said.
The first phase of the regeneration requires the council to sell Hillsboro Car Park, Salt Lake Car Park and elements of the harbour area to developers. It will be considered by councillors on Tuesday.
More than 5,000 people gave their opinions on the Seven Bays Project through petitions, letters, the internet and council feedback forms during a public consultation.
Of the 5,276 respondents, 5,128 called for a public swimming pool in the town.
But council planning chief Martin Hooker said the authority was unable to fund the request. It could only be considered if a private developer were to offer it.
Coun David Anderson, a Porthcawl resident, said the details of future plans for Porthcawl would now depend on developers’ offers for the land.
He said: “In some cases there are (public) expectations that stand no chance of being substantiated or agreed but what’s important is the consultation exercise was sincerely done.”
Coun Alana Davies, Porthcawl’s east central representative, noted that many consultation respondents had only called for a swimming pool and not commented on the rest of the plans.
She added: “I do think we have had a disappointing response given the number of people who live in and visit Porthcawl.”
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2007/11/03/is-it-the-end-for-coney-beach-amusements-91466-20056168/
Nov 3 2007 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo
ONE of South Wales’ best known seaside fairgrounds could be sold off to help create a premier beach resort.
The plans for selling Porthcawl’s Coney Beach Amusement Park to developers will be discussed at a Bridgend council meeting on Tuesday.
The authority needs to buy the sites of the fair and Sandy Bay in Porthcawl either by compulsory purchase order or by agreement with owners the Evans family before ambitious proposals to transform the resort can be moved forward.
The scheme, called the Seven Bays Project, aims to create hundreds of houses and more leisure and community facilities, including a supermarket.
A 120-page council report detailing public opinion agreed the funfair needed to be moved and scaled down.
But, while business owners, residents and resort visitors welcomed plans to improve facilities, some were concerned about the fair’s future.
Brian Limb, a barman at Cabin Bar, next to the amusement park, said: “They have to cater for the young people as well as the adults.”
Regular Porthcawl visitor Lorna Griffiths, 62, from Gilfach Goch, said she hoped the fair would stay as it is.
“It wouldn’t be Porthcawl without the fair,” she said.
The first phase of the regeneration requires the council to sell Hillsboro Car Park, Salt Lake Car Park and elements of the harbour area to developers. It will be considered by councillors on Tuesday.
More than 5,000 people gave their opinions on the Seven Bays Project through petitions, letters, the internet and council feedback forms during a public consultation.
Of the 5,276 respondents, 5,128 called for a public swimming pool in the town.
But council planning chief Martin Hooker said the authority was unable to fund the request. It could only be considered if a private developer were to offer it.
Coun David Anderson, a Porthcawl resident, said the details of future plans for Porthcawl would now depend on developers’ offers for the land.
He said: “In some cases there are (public) expectations that stand no chance of being substantiated or agreed but what’s important is the consultation exercise was sincerely done.”
Coun Alana Davies, Porthcawl’s east central representative, noted that many consultation respondents had only called for a swimming pool and not commented on the rest of the plans.
She added: “I do think we have had a disappointing response given the number of people who live in and visit Porthcawl.”
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2007/11/03/is-it-the-end-for-coney-beach-amusements-91466-20056168/