The company behind a multi-million pound project to develop land at Mumbles Pier has cleared a planning hurdle by demolishing fire-damaged buildings and preparing the ground for foundations.
Family firm Ameco was given revised planning permission for a headland hotel and foreshore flats between the pier and the former lifeboat station in 2018. The project had to get under way within five years - by the middle of March this year - or Ameco would have had to submit a new planning application to Swansea Council.
The new hotel building and flats haven't materialised, but the company has satisfied the council that the demolition work it carried out after a major fire last year - plus the preparation of ground for foundations - effectively meant that planning permission had been lawfully implemented.
Its application for a lawful development certificate was assessed by planning officers, who said in a report that they considered that the work undertaken was sufficient to comply with planning law, although it only covered a small part of the development site.
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Last month Ameco said the wider scheme would get under way this year and that insurers had accepted liability following last August's fire. An Ameco spokeswoman said: "This means we can now press ahead with our plans to resurrect our popular Copperfish restaurant which was destroyed in the blaze." The plan is to open a fish and chip takeaway as work on the restaurant continued.
A comprehensive redevelopment of land at the pier, including foreshore flats and headland visitor accommodation, was first approved in 2011. The outline plans have been revised since, detailed plans have been approved, and work to refurbish the grade two-listed pier - the subject of a separate planning application - has been carried out. Ameco secured funding last year for further refurbishment of the 835ft pier, including its base.
The headland building will be up to five storeys, one storey more than the 26 foreshore flats. The main pavilion building will also be refurbished, a new boardwalk added along the water's edge, and parking reconfigured to provide 61 public spaces. Occupiers of the flats will have their own undercroft parking.
Fortunately no-one was hurt and the grade two-listed pier, pavilion and RNLI lifeboat station were not damaged by last August's fire, which was ruled as accidental.
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