Reform councillor defends town hall and car park plans

Richard Evans Local Democracy Reporter

Proposals to hand over publicly owned assets to one “wealthiest landowners in the UK” have been defended by a north Wales Reform UK councillor.

Llandudno Town Hall and the resort’s Market Street car park may be “disposed” of by Conwy County Council to an organisation linked to Mostyn Estates, a scrutiny committee meeting heard last week.

Conservative councillor Harry Saville claimed last week the council was “working with Reform UK councillors” on the deal. He said the proposal put forward was “to dispose of both Llandudno Town Hall and Market Street car park to an organisation linked to Mostyn Estates”.

Now the councillor who came up with the plan, Llandudno councillor and the council’s Reform leader Louise Emery has now defended the plans.

She said: “I believe my role as a town and county councillor is to find solutions and drive projects for my town.

“A strong local economy and thriving town centre is how you help an area, particularly amongst more deprived communities. So I come up with ideas and initiatives to drive this. Some work, some don’t, but I keep trying.”

She added: “The town hall is another one of those ideas in collaboration with community leaders. It’s a beautiful asset in the centre of town that could be a thriving and busy place making full use of the registrar as a key service in the town.

“But large, old civic buildings are expensive to run. The town hall currently exists as a financial liability to the county. The car park income is just one avenue that could solve that.”

“There is no doubt plenty of other options, and there are successful examples across the UK of community interest companies taking on such buildings and making them financially viable. Yes, a lot of work for volunteers; yes, we would need Mostyn Estates on board, who gave the land for the specific use as a town hall, and, yes, we would need public support for our idea. There are many elements that need pulling together and this is at a very early stage.”

Cllr Emery added that she engaged with council officers, followed protocol, and briefed Llandudno councillors on the matter at a North Area Forum meeting last year.

She added: “There was no negativity at that meeting” so it was “disappointing to see this raised at a public meeting last week”.

Managing director of Mostyn Estates Edward Hiller also weighed in on the debate.

He said: “This would appear to be a rather speculative and perhaps politically motivated story raised by Cllr Harry Saville from the Conservative Party.

“As the estate already owns the freehold of the car park behind the town hall, I am not sure what angle he is coming from. He might wish to clarify his facts before providing further commentary.”

Last week the council’s deputy leader Cllr Mike Priestley said he was unaware of the plans and that would be concerned of the loss of the £200,000 revenue for the council’s environment, roads, and facilities department, generated by the car park.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that Mostyn Estates originally handed the town hall to the council with caveats on the building’s use.

The county council leases the car park on a long-term lease, with Mostyn Estates holding the freehold.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service approached the county council requesting the details and length of the Market Street car park lease.