A £2.4m development is set to go ahead on Porthcawl's Cosy Corner this month, with contractors now in place to build a number of planned improvements on the once-neglected part of the town.
The plans, which include five small retail units, public toilets and changing facilities, as well as an outdoor children’s play area and public seating area with canopy, will be well received by many in the area. However, for others there will be a sense of bitterness at what could have been, with much grander proposals once in place for the controversial part of the coastal town.
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Initial proposals for the site, which date back to 2015, came from a community driven project under the management of Credu Charity Ltd, and would have seen a state-of-the art maritime centre brought to Porthcawl, alongside Wales' first Coastal Science and Discovery Centre. With land leased from Bridgend County Borough Council, the centre was set to be a massive boost to the area, after Credu acquired around £4.2m worth of funding to build it, from sources such as the European Regional Development Fund, and Visit Wales. Additional costs were going to be covered by RBS Social and Community Capital and the Development Bank of Wales, though in August 2020, Visit Wales withdrew from the original project claiming it was no longer financially viable due to a "significant increase in project costs."
The site has now been reclaimed by Bridgend County Borough Council with work on the new plans expected to begin in the coming months, while Credu charity Ltd has since gone into liquidation. One Porthcawl resident, who did not wish to be named, said while they were happy work had re-started on the site, the collapse of the original project had still been a major let down for the area.
They said: "As a community I think we are all happy to see something being done with the site at Cosy Corner this year, however we still have to acknowledge that this may be the second or third best option behind the proposed maritime centre we were meant to have. There was such a lot of promise for what it could have been, potentially bringing a huge boost to the area with a development that everyone could have been proud of."
Speaking on the situation, Bridgend Council chief executive Mark Shephard said while they could not provide a like-for-like development at Cosy Corner due to lack of funding, he expected work on the new plans to be completed by the spring of 2023. He said: "The £5.5m maritime centre planned for Cosy Corner was a highly ambitious, community-driven project that was wholly organised by the charity Credu.
"Bridgend County Borough Council welcomed it as a separate development which complimented our own regeneration and investment plans for Porthcawl, and we offered Credu support by leasing them the land at Cosy Corner while providing advice and guidance throughout the complicated planning process. Unfortunately, their efforts to provide a maritime centre came to an end after Visit Wales withdrew their funding from the project. As Credu filed for liquidation, Cosy Corner was left as an unsafe, partially excavated building site.
"As this clearly could not be allowed to remain in place, Bridgend County Borough Council was able to negotiate more than £2.4m funding from the European Regional Development Fund and Welsh Government with certain conditions attached, one of which was that the money had to be spent within specific timescales. Throughout this process, the council clearly and consistently stated that it would not be possible to provide a like-for-like development at Cosy Corner without having sufficient funding in place, and that was even without the additional cost of putting right the partial excavations and groundworks at the site.
"As we have less than half of what was originally envisaged for the maritime centre, we have used the £2.4m funding to develop alternative plans that will restore the popular site and bring it back into public use by introducing all-new community facilities for residents and visitors to enjoy.
"Work has already started on a high-quality outdoor children’s play area, new landscaping with plenty of public seating, space for staging outdoor events, a canopy capable of providing shelter, an all-new stone and glass building offering five small retail units, public toilets, meeting space for community use, offices for the harbour master, changing facilities for users of the nearby marina and more. By the time that the all-new community facilities are ready in spring 2023, they will provide a new focal point where people can congregate and enjoy the waterfront area.”
Independent Councillor Sean Aspey added: "It is very disappointing for the people of Porthcawl that the maritime centre never came to fruition as it would have been such a massive boost to the town. As for what's going on at the site now I think we have to look forward to that, and while the maritime centre isn't going to happen, we still have some much needed development moving forward.
"It will be a massive improvement from what is currently there, as it will be a nice open space with a canopy that will allow us to host more outdoor events and activities that will benefit the town." You can read more of our stories from Porthcawl here and subscribe to our Bridgend borough weekly newsletter here.
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