Residents of seaside town organise protest against regeneration plans

Amelia Jones

A local Facebook group has announced they will be protesting against new regeneration plans for a seaside town.

Porthcawl’s Save Our Seaside (SOS) group are hosting their second protest this month against the plans for the seafront.

An anonymous member made the announcement on Facebook, they said: “Our next scheduled Porthcawl SOS public protest will take place outside Trinity Church or close by on Friday 22nd May at 1:30PM.

“Please plan to attend this peaceful protest against the ongoing unacceptable Porthcawl Waterfront Master Plan.”

This follows a similar protest that took place opposite the Civic Offices in Bridgend on Friday 8 May.

Following the protest, an organiser said: “Grateful to residents who gathered promptly this morning to protest against the current Porthcawl master plan of which there’s an overwhelming rejection of the plans. We say RETHINK THE PLANS.”

Proposed plans

The latest documents say the proposed site will cover  an area of 43.6 hectares and consists of a “mix of existing commercial and leisure brownfield (such as a fairground) with undeveloped green spaces to the east of Sandy Bay Bowl.”

This includes Griffin Park, the former Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Monster Park, and the Hillsboro Car Park, and is bound by Trecco Bay Caravan Park to the east and the Portway road to the west.

If given the green light by Bridgend County Borough Council the new homes would be situated in the Salt Lake, Coney Beach, and Sandy Bay areas, with ambitions for 50% to be set aside as affordable housing that would “prioritise local people”.

Along with the new housing sites, these proposals would include plans to build a new lido swimming pool and gym, green spaces, shops, coastal defence works, and a number of other leisure attractions.

They could also see the alteration and expansion of the town’s Griffin Park if approved, along with proposed new facilities such as a MUGA sports area.

Additionally, part of the application requests permission to build a new 420m long single carriageway road, which would cut through a section of Griffin Park near the current tennis courts.

Opposition

The plans for Porthcawl have been met with a great deal of opposition from some locals over the years, with protests and a number of public events held by both the council and residents who are against the contentious scheme.

Critics have raised concerns about the potential pressures that the hundreds of new homes could put on local infrastructure as well as to local medical services and parking capacity.

Others have shared fears over a potential loss of the town’s identity in the wake of the regeneration with many preferring to see a new plan that focuses on tourism and leisure opportunities, as opposed to residential development.

Council bosses previously said they had addressed some of the issues within the plans with a number of changes after feedback from the public consultation process.

These included providing more public open space, reducing the number of proposed homes from an initial 1,100, and reducing building heights so that structures would be no taller than three or four storeys high.

They also say parking issues would be addressed with a refurbished open air car park at Hillsboro and a new public car park at Coney Beach.

The protests come shortly after the closure of Coney Beach Pleasure Park and the recent announcement that Coney beach donkey rides have been banned.

The next peaceful protest will take place outside Trinity Church on Friday 22 May.