'Appalled' at condition of Grade II listed Civic Centre as hotel plan fails to materialise
The formerly grand building itself was sold in late 2022 to Llandudno hotelier Ian Robbins of Parc Eirias Hotel Ltd, who said he would invest £2-3m into the iconic building to create a four star hotel.
Planning permission was secured but the redevelopment never started. Conwy County Council took enforcement action, due to the state of the building.
It has now been revealed Ian Robbins sold the property to local businessman Robin Brookes around a month ago, claiming post-Covid building costs made the renovation into a four-star hotel 'unfeasible'. The council said it was "now communicating with the new owners".
Several councillors have complained about the state of the building, saying it has fallen into 'rack and ruin' with smashed glass, boarded-up doors and windows, and rubbish piled high around the land, which is overgrown and strewn with weeds. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
Cllr Cheryl Carlisle of Colwyn ward said: "I am absolutely appalled that this historic and much-loved Old Colwyn landmark building has been allowed to fall into rack and ruin like this.
'The residents of Old Colwyn and the surrounding area have been most concerned about the rapid decline and lack of even basic maintenance afforded to this listed building. We hope it will have a brighter future ahead as part of our local history.'
Glyn ward councillor Abdul Khan was also concerned. 'We've had complaints from residents,' he said.
'It is a Grade II listed building as well. It does need a lot of work needing doing to it.'
Colwyn Bay town councillor Phil Ashe added: 'The state of the building just shows a complete lack of management by Conwy and foresight. They spend all this money on consultants.
'But from my point of view, why is the council selling a building they knew would need a lot of money spent on it without doing their due diligence to make sure the work would be done so the building wouldn't go to rack and ruin to the point it is now that it might have to get knocked down for health and safety reasons?'
Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders said the building 'brought down the character of the other properties nearby'.
But the Civic Centre's former owner Mr Robbins said the building was still in good condition.
'We sold it just over a month ago. It took about 14 months to go through because the council was being difficult,' said Mr Robbins.
'We've got water, gas, and electric going to the building over the service road, and they wanted us to put an easement on it so they could dig holes for gas and electric.
'Robin Brookes bought it off us. We sold the building for the same price as we bought it. His intention was (for a hotel) when we sold it, but people change their minds.
'It won't get knocked down because it is a listed building. It's not that bad inside. The paintwork is cracked, and that is about it. It is very good. The only reason the outside looks as bad is because thieves took the lead. On the side of the building, there are dormer windows, and they were leaded on the top, and the lead got stolen. That is why it looks as bad as it does, but it won't take much to rectify."
He added: 'The reason we sold it was pre-pandemic we had a quotation of £2.2m to renovate, and it went up to about £3.8m, and it wasn't feasible for us to do. If we'd had some help from the grants that were around at the time, we'd have done it, but there was no help from local government. We would have created nearly 50 jobs.'
The Local Democracy Reporting Service attempted to contact the new owner through his legal representatives.
A Conwy spokesperson said: "A Section 215 notice was served on the previous owners. The property has since been sold, and we are now communicating with the new owners."
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