Hotel expansion on hold as council unable to fund wall repairs

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A prominent four-star hotel can’t extend its business because councillors don’t have the money to fix a nearby wall.

Councillors at Conwy County Council expressed fear that permanent repairs to the retaining wall at Llandudno’s Empire Hotel will “never, ever” take place during a meeting of the authority’s finance and scrutiny committee.

Committee members met this week to discuss the proposed capital programme for 2026/2027.

Included in the report were papers listing business cases for council assets, highways and schools in need of maintenance funding.

The list included funding needed for land adjacent to Llandudno’s Empire Hotel – which currently has no funds allocated for repairs.

Listed on a “league table” of Conwy’s 2026/2027 Capital Business Case Schedule, The Empire Hotel’s retainer wall in Llandudno needs £1.25m of investment for repairs – for which the council is liable.

At the meeting councillors raised fears about health and safety and the damage being done to the town’s tourist industry.

The report states: “The Empire Hotel Retaining Wall, Llandudno, retains a link stepped footpath providing a safe route from the Orme down to the town.

“The retaining wall is temporarily propped for safety, and this project is for the permanent reconstruction of the wall with a view to reopen Tan Yr Ogof Steps. There is potential to work collaboratively with The Empire Hotel to align our goals in providing a permanent solution at this location.”

The report also warned that “delay in carrying out CCBC-determined works” will “impact” the extension to the family-run hotel on Church Walks.

The “league table” of priorities revealed the council doesn’t have any grant funding or suggested capital allocation to repair the wall.

But while there is a lack of funding for the work, the council has earmarked sums for other higher-priority projects.

These include £600,000 for critical repairs to schools and £1.5m of the £6m needed for works at Llandudno’s Ysgol Gogarth. The authority also plans to spend £500,000 on streetlighting, as well as other areas of need, such as traffic signals and pedestrian crossings.

Cllr Louise Emery raised the issue at the meeting at the council’s Coed Pella HQ. “The poor old retaining wall at The Empire Hotel,” she said.

“So I completely appreciate that when this comes in front of cabinet members, probably several (cabinets) over the years now, that when it looks at developing schools or improving other things, such as match-funding projects, low carbon, etc., the retaining wall is never, ever going to score well.

“My concern is that the retaining wall will never, ever get done.”

Cllr Emery then referred to the report, claiming the authority was the “sixth worst county in the UK and ranked worst in Wales” for repairing substandard structures.

She then raised questions about liability and health and safety. She added: “There is also the impact on The Empire Hotel because they have plans to expand, which is good for the local economy in Llandudno, but they can’t really do that until this is fixed.

“I have a feeling now that this will never get done. So how do we feel comfortable about the liability and statutory duty?”

Cllr Mike Priestley is the cabinet member for environment, roads, and infrastructure. “Absolutely, Louise (Cllr Emery), you are absolutely right,” he said. “Some safety measures were put in place in October 2022, which provides a temporary solution for that area.

“I think it is fair to say that there are some complex issues regarding this. There is the footpath that is obviously closed, and I believe there is some private land that I believe we have to deal with when going through this, and it is a case of, is it a priority to members?

“And when I go to the infrastructure board and look at all the issues with a lot of our structures, is it a priority? And at this stage, it is deemed to be a temporary solution that has been put in place.”

He added: “However, if democracy decides to push that and bump that up the league, for want of a better phrase, that would happen, but we’ve got some major issues with infrastructure in the portfolio.”

The council’s head of environment, roads, and infrastructure, Geraint Edwards, then said: “Will it ever be replaced? Forever is an awful long time.

“The temporary solution is working. It is safe.”

He then added there was an opportunity to look at other avenues for funding. He added that he understood why this business case was “not at the top of our councillors’ aspirations”. The committee backed the report, which will now go before cabinet.