Council criticised for putting ‘too much power’ in the ‘hands of too few’

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

An Old Colwyn councillor has claimed Conwy County Council is putting “too much power” in the “hands of too few” after the sale of former council offices.

Council staff left the Grade II listed Civic Centre in Colwyn Bay in 2018 when officers relocated to the new Coed Pella offices in the town.

The authority then sold the Civic Centre in late 2022 to Llandudno hotelier Ian Robbins of Parc Eirias Hotel Ltd.

But the multi-million-pound plans to convert the building into a four-star hotel became “unviable”, causing the building to fall into disrepair.

The council then served a Section 215 notice, taking enforcement action due to the building’s condition, fining the owner £1,050.

Businessman Robin Brookes then bought the building last summer, claiming his company, Eirias Coastal Park Hotel Ltd, has begun preparatory work on a new “apart-hotel” and car park for electric vehicles.

The former council-owned building remains in a derelict state.

But at January’s finance and resource scrutiny committee at Coed Pella, councillors discussed a review of its assets disposal policy.

Old Colwyn councillor David Carr took the opportunity to slam the council over the sale of the Civic Centre.

“I did have reservations when this (the policy) was last discussed, and I still think it is giving too much power to too few hands,” said Cllr Carr about the policy change.

“I’m particularly concerned about prices and assets being disposed of. Is the taxpayer getting value for money?

“I go back to the Old Colwyn council building (Civic Centre), which was sold off for £250,000.”

He added: “It is still empty and the land with it, and we were told it was going to be a hotel.

“Three years on and nothing has happened, so my reservations are giving too much power to too few hands, and that the taxpayer might not be getting the value from assets that are being disposed of. So I’ve still got reservations on this one.”

The council’s asset manager Bleddyn Evans said: “Cllr David (Carr), if you’ve got any specific asset where you’ve got examples where you think we’ve sold under value, if you can share those with me.

“Certainly, I’ve got no evidence. Everybody is entitled to an opinion in terms of what things are worth, but if you’ve got some factual evidence that we’ve sold anything below a market value, I am more than happy to have a chat with you.”

He added: “I think last year I shared with you the rationale or justification for why the Civic Centre sold for what it’s sold for, and we followed it up in a letter just before Christmas.

“So if you need another conversation to explain why it sold for what it sold for, and why comparing it to other things that you’ve mentioned that it may be comparable with is not factually correct, (I’m) more than happy to have a conversation with you on that one as well, just to allay Cllr David’s fears.”

Cllr Carr responded: “I’ve read all the papers, and I’ve still got reservations about it because we are not going through the proper democratic process if it is going to be the decision of a cabinet member on the advice of officers. Members are excluded from this.”

He added the council needed to engage more with residents over the disposal of assets. The report was rubberstamped by the committee and will now be discussed by cabinet later this month.

A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council commented: “As explained at the time, the property was sold at market value via a commercial estate agent acting on behalf of the council.”