Llandudno Anwyl Tear Down Historic Building & Abandon Site For 15 years, and then argue planning has not expired!

A massive campaign to save this building led to the Welsh Government stating that the main house above had to be saved Anwyl then tore the hotel extensions down with a JCB and claimed that the building was structurally unsound!

They are hated in Llandudno and they then just abandoned the site for 15 years.

Now they are complaining about planning! Will all their money they only have to pop in the old application, but no, total arrogance, this is why people hate them.

see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33694931

A developer wants to establish it still has planning in place to build a multi-million pound apartment block on a North Wales seafront - with a sewer drain at the heart of the matter. The land at West Shore beach used to house a property called Penmorfa that was built in the 1860s for the family of Alice Liddell, said to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

It later became Gogarth Abbey Hotel before being demolished by Anwyl Construction in 2008 to make way for apartments. Planning permission was secured for a 29 apartment development but nothing has ever been built on the site.

They have previously said they plan to submit a fresh proposal. But Anwyl has now submitted an application to Conwy council to establish if the original planning permission remains in place for the site.

Planning consents usually come with the condition that work is started within five years of permission being granted. In this case planning was granted 15 years ago but Anwyl argue that a material start was made on the development. If this is the case then planning permission remains in place indefinitely.

Last month they applied for a new ‘Certificate of Lawfulness’ - saying planning permission was “lawfully implemented and therefore extant”. They told the council in 2013 - as the original five year deadline was running out - that all pre-commencement conditions were complied with and that the demolition of the hotel constituted a “material operation”.

But they were informed due to a technicality the demolition did not constitute a material start. Therefore in May 2013 the developer dug a trench and laid a foul water drain.

It then gets complicated as the ‘Certificate of Lawfulness’ application back then was approved but it also includes a line to say as the trench does not reach the foundations it does not satisfy the conditions for a “material start”.

Anwyl says the lack of clarity means it can’t be relied upon as a formal determination. This has seen the developer apply again for a certificate to ensure they have the permission in place.

Penmorfa, Llandudno

If secured it is not known if they will now move ahead with the development of the original scheme or continue to work up a new proposal - with this existing permission a back up if any new application is refused.

Either way it may signal progress could finally be made on this long empty site.

Anwyl was asked to comment.

Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders said: “I have been disappointed in the actions of Anwyl Construction from the very start when they first purchased this unique site and the Gogarth Abbey Hotel that holds so many happy memories for those of us living in Llandudno.

“The way it was simply left open to the elements, then demolished was quite shocking. This site has lain empty for over 20 years. As regards any new development to be carried out this must be in character with the historical nature of the site.”

From https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/sewer-drain-holds-key-whether-28019457