Denbighshire county council is seeking a development partner to redevelop property holdings along Rhyl promenade and is shortlisting parties with proposals for leisure facilities along the coastal strip from Marine Lake to Splash Point.
“Rhyl’s leisure assets are in need of investment and we want a partner to reinvigorate the town as a seaside destination,” says the council’s head of communications, marketing and leisure, Jamie Groves. “We’ve had a good response, which demonstrates the confidence of the private sector.”
The council has received nine expressions of interest and hopes to have selected a development partner by the end of January 2015.
Although Groves is open to new ideas, he is keen to see the development of an aquatic centre and will look at proposals for other facilities, including Rhyl’s 240ft Sky Tower, children’s village, bowling greens, boating lake and events arena.
Since its heyday as a UK holiday destination in the 1960s and 1970s, Rhyl has suffered a chronic decline. As Brits discovered the wonders of cheap foreign travel, the town began to lose its appeal and the scourge of drugs and deprivation saw west Rhyl ranked as the most deprived ward in Wales.
Its leisure assets have seen minimal investment since the 1970s. Many attractions have fallen by the wayside never to be replaced, including Rhyl’s famous fairground, which closed in 2007.
In March this year, the plug was pulled on the jewel in Rhyl’s tourism crown, the Sun Centre. The 32-year-old water attraction closed after the council axed funding and operator Clwyd Leisure entered voluntary administration.
Although the number of tourists visiting Rhyl has remained steady in recent years, many fear the town is now struggling to draw in the crowds.
“We now have nothing left to offer,” says Rhyl B&B owner David Jackson. “To all intents and purposes, our leisure offer has disappeared. Our guests are hugely disappointed. For the last 30 years we’ve been told investment will come in, but nothing ever comes of it.”
The council insists public sector spending cuts mean new leisure facilities will have to be funded privately. However, once a developer is selected, it will consider providing assistance from its own budget, as well as exploring grant opportunities from Europe and the Welsh government.
“It will not be viable without some form of assistance; the figures don’t stack up,” says Legat Owen’s Dan Oliver.
Oliver, who is acting for an unnamed developer that submitted an expression of interest in the summer, says: “They see an opportunity to return Rhyl to its heyday. There is no reason it can’t be transformed, like other seaside towns such as Scarborough. The fundamentals are right with the sea, beach and large seasonal population.”
Oliver says replacing the Sun Centre with another water attraction will be key, and that other proposals might include restaurants, a family pub and hotel.
Local agent Gareth Williams agrees that some form of public-sector funding will be required, but is confident that with the current strength of the leisure market, developers will want to invest.
“Rhyl’s reputation is a problem that’s being addressed and, thanks to the work that has already taken place, the town is turning a corner,” he says.
Williams points to recent projects, such as the £11m redevelopment of Rhyl Harbour, a refurbished seafront Vue Cinema, development of a new park in west Rhyl and Chesham Estates’ construction of a 70-bed Premier Inn
on the site of the former Honey Club nightclub.
Although he concedes the council may struggle to find a single developer prepared to take on all facilities along the promenade, he says: “The building blocks are in place and developers now have the confidence to invest here.”
But whether that confidence translates into financially viable and deliverable development is another question.
Rollercoaster ride
The fortunes of the former funfair site are testament to the challenge of getting development in Rhyl off the ground.
Seven years after planning consent was granted for an ambitious mixed-use project, work is yet to get under way.
Scarborough Developments acquired the Ocean Plaza site back in 2010, after Modus Properties went into administration. Planning consent had been granted to Modus for an £85m project including offices, 200 apartments, a hotel, supermarket and pubs, but it was never delivered.
The recession saw Scarborough downsize its plans and resubmit an application in late 2013. The residential element has been ditched because of flood risk and the plan now includes a 60-bed hotel, scaled-back foodstore and 40,000 sq ft of retail or leisure units.
“It’s now a very different economic climate to what it was when consent was originally granted,” says development director Lee Savage. “We’re in talks with operators and want to be on site ASAP. Holding the asset is costing money and, with a fair wind, we could be on site during the second quarter of 2015.”
Savage is confident that if all parties work together, the scheme can complement whatever may be delivered along Rhyl’s promenade.
In the meantime, locals are frustrated that a once-treasured part of town has become an eyesore and the future of the 13-acre site remains unclear.
The council’s planning team expects the revised plans to be presented to committee by the end of the year.
