AN OLD Colwyn councillor questioned how a Grade II-listed building sold by the council had been allowed to remain derelict, only to be told officers would answer questions behind closed doors.
At a finances and resources overview and scrutiny committee meeting this week, Cllr David Carr asked officers what was happening with the Civic Centre in Colwyn Bay.
In July councillors said they were “appalled” at the condition of Colwyn Bay’s historic Grade-II listed Civic Centre after a hotel redevelopment failed to materialise.
Council staff vacated the building in 2018, and part of the land was sold in August 2021 for a housing development.
The Civic Centre was then sold in late 2022 to Llandudno hotelier Ian Robbins of Parc Eirias Hotel Ltd, who said he would invest £2-3m into the iconic building to create a four-star hotel.
Planning permission was secured, but the redevelopment never started. Conwy County Council then took enforcement action, due to the state of the building.
That was just before Glan Conwy businessman Robin Brookes bought the building in the summer of this year and said he planned to transform it into an “aparthotel”.
But the building remains “derelict”, boarded up, and its land strewn with weeds.
Speaking at the scrutiny committee, Cllr Carr said local people were unhappy about the state of the structure.
“The sale of old council buildings (the Civic Centre) in Old Colwyn, there was a lot of criticism locally at the price it was sold at,” he said.
“I think it was sold for £250,000, and people were saying that is the price of a semi (semi-detached house), and that was three years ago, and it was supposed to be turned into a hotel, and yet it is still derelict.”
He added: “People locally are very unhappy about it. We were promised it was going to be a hotel, and it was going to create jobs for local people, and those things haven’t happened. So really, I think, some answers on that I’d be grateful of.”
But chairing the meeting, Cllr Cheryl Carlisle said officers would answer questions “outside” of the meeting, referring the matter to the council’s chief executive Rhun ap Gareth.
