Posted: Mon 30th Mar 2020

Plans to enforce sale of ‘eyesore’ Anglesey social club given the go-ahead

North Wales news and information
This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 30th, 2020

An Anglesey “eyesore” looks set to be torn down after being given the go-ahead by decision makers.

Anglesey Council’s Executive has approved moves to force the sale of Beaumaris’ Sports and Social club to allow affordable housing on the site.

The dilapidated and long disused building on Steeple Lane, Beaumaris, has been described by council officers as “an eyesore” and in a “potentially dangerous state of disrepair” but a lack of clarity over its ownership had led to years of stalemate.

As far back as 2011, members of the town council urged the local authority to step in and  secure the building on Steeple Lane, which they described as “unsafe” and “detrimental to the image of the town”.

Such concerns were accelerated after reports of youths entering the former club and vandalising the property.

But in a bid to meet growing demands for housing in the town, January saw planners approve a bid from the housing department to demolish the site to make way for six one bedroom apartments.

To facilitate the work, however, the council needed to authorise a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to force its owners to hand over the site for demolition.

This week, a spokesman for Anglesey Council confirmed, “The Executive has authorized officers to apply for a CPO in order to actively provide social housing in Beaumaris – an area where there is a real need for this type of property due to a lack of local land.”

Once built, the authority plans to rent out the apartments to those primarily with a local connection to Beaumaris but possibly extended to the wider Seiriol Ward.

“With the buildings fast approaching a state of disrepair and the site becoming overgrown, it is rapidly becoming an eyesore that can be seen from various surrounding buildings, including its neighbouring St Mary’s & St Nicholas’Church,” noted the design and access statement accompanying the authority’s planning application.

“As far as we are aware, the existing owner has no plans to do anything with the site.

“The proposal consists therefore of acquiring a compulsory purchase order on the existing social club site, before demolishing the existing dilapidated building, clearing remainder of overgrown site to replace with a three- storey building in which six residential units would be housed along with parking, communal garden space and associated amenities to the rear.”

It went on to note, “IoACC see this to be an opportunity to add to their social housing stock which not only contributes to answering the housing need within the area but also secures a viable future use for the site, the existing building on which is quickly becoming dilapidated and is therefore in a potentially dangerous state of disrepair.”

By Gareth Williams – Local Democracy Reporter



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