Residents unhappy at plan to buy land for regeneration
RESIDENTS are unhappy after discovering that land near a park could be bought as part of a large regeneration project to build housing and a school.
Notices appeared around the Griffin Park area in Porthcawl last week as Bridgend council tries to identify the owners of the land.
The council wants to track down the owners for a possible compulsory purchase order as part of its regeneration of Sandy Bay and Coney Beach.
Plans have already been approved for marketing land at Salt Lake. Smaller pockets of land are now halting the process as the council does not know who owns the land near Griffin Park.
Councillor Charles Smith, cabinet member for education and regeneration at Bridgend council, said: “These notices have been posted as part of our efforts to lay down the necessary groundwork to support the delivery of the next stages of Porthcawl’s ongoing regeneration.
“Our plans incorporate a broad mix of options for supporting new retail, residential, recreational and open space opportunities within the Coney Beach and Sandy Bay areas.
“We also intend to establish an all-new school along with enhanced coastal protection and ecological measures for the local system of relic dunes.
“To achieve this, the council is seeking to work closely with other landowners and businesses in and around the area, and as part of this has kept local councillors fully informed.”
But some residents are concerned about the council’s plans as the land had previously been reserved for sport, recreation and tourism since the late 1940s.
Resident Alison Malby, 55, said: “The only ones who will profit anything from this are the owners of Coney beach and
Bridgend county borough council, not the town folk and tourists.
“In fact, this will put tourists off from coming to the town as [there will be] no beautiful scenes left to see.”
Peter Smith, 74, said he was concerned about the potential loss of a rural area.
“[BCBC’s] regeneration of Porthcawl is nothing of the sort, it is urbanisation in order to maximize the revenue stream that Porthcawl provides,” he said.
Councillor Smith said a formal compulsory purchase order has not been made.
He said: “Unfortunately, the notices appear to have prompted some unfounded rumours to circulate, with even Welsh Government reporting that they have received objections to compulsory purchase orders which simply do not exist.
“I must therefore stress that the notices do not represent any formal compulsory purchase.
“We are simply trying to establish who owns what so that we can progress the next stages of Porthcawl’s ongoing regeneration, and to support the development of a report which will seek to outline the local ownership and site interests in full detail.”
Welsh Government said it was a local authority matter and declined to comment.