Conwy coastal defence plans include cycle route and picnic area

Three separate planning applications for coastal and storm defence schemes will be considered by Conwy County Council’s planning committee on Wednesday.

The plans detail Colwyn Bay and Penrhyn Bay seafronts and the strengthening of the sea walls, as well as enhancing the promenades with new cycle paths and picnic areas.
Apart from better protecting the coast from storms, the council says the plans will enhance the visual appearance of the seafront whilst providing leisure amenities and improved lighting.

Conwy has applied for planning permission to construct a rock revetment, together with pedestrian and cycle access and public improvement works between Porth Eirias to Old Colwyn’s Splash Point.

The proposed rock revetment will be 32m in width and 630m in length.
But the plans, if they get the go-ahead, will also see the promenade regenerated, with new pedestrian beach access, including a ramp and a cycle path. There will also be a ‘landscaped garden setting’, an outdoor classroom area, parking provision, street furniture, lighting and  a new ‘concession building’.

A second application has also been submitted to improve Colwyn Bay’s flood defences, which include coastal works, promenade improvements and landscaping works. The regeneration works are planned between Colwyn Bay Station and Abbey Road.

Further west along the coast, Conwy also wants to construct new coastal defences near Glan y Mor Road on Penrhyn Bay promenade, which will include a T-shaped rock groyne, an eastern groyne raising and repairs to the existing seawall. The application also seeks permission to ‘nourish’ the beach with sand and sediment to help combat erosion.

The plans include a pedestrian and cycle crossing, beach access ramp, relocated and extended car parking, street furniture, promenade resurfacing and soft landscaping.
All three planning applications are marked ‘minded to grant’ with much of the proposed work being funded by Welsh Government.

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter