Old Colwyn Residents’ Association has been working for years to improve Old Colwyn Promenade, which has been in a poor condition for some time. It is also a point of contention that improvements to the promenade were promised as part of the general Bay of Colwyn Promenade improvements, however with work completed on the other areas, which were prioritised due to protecting property, Old Colwyn was simply told that there wasn’t enough money left.
There are 4 bodies with some form of responsibility for or involvement with Old Colwyn Promenade - the Welsh Government, Conwy County Borough Council, Dŵr Cymru, and Network Rail. Why the Welsh Government and Conwy County Borough Council are involved is obvious. Dŵr Cymru’s involvement stems from the fact that the main sewer for the area runs underneath the promenade, and Network Rail’s involvment comes from the fact that the promenade support their railway track.
Conwy’s opinion on the matter is that it has always been of the utmost importance - they have the risk of collapse of the promenade listed on their list of most serious risks, as has Denbighshire County Council.
The Welsh Government’s flood protection plans have prioritised protecting property rather than infrastructure, and as there are no properties on Old Colwyn Promenade, they quite simply didn’t place it highly on their list. There response was that it would be up to Conwy County Borough Council, Dŵr Cymru, and Network Rail to contribute towards the cost as it was their property that was being protected.
Dŵr Cymru have eventually come around to the idea that it is in their best interests to help protect the promenade, and they have since funded repairs to it.
Network Rail have been quite uncooperative in the whole matter however. The renewal of the fencing along the promenade was only done after they were embarassed by photos of children scaling the railway viaduct appearing in the national press. The Old Colwyn Residents’ Association had been pressing Network Rail on the state of the fencing for seven years prior to this incident.
Network Rail are also responsible for the steps leading to the beach near Tan y Lan. The Old Colwyn Residents’ Association had been pressuring them for years about the state of the steps, which due to their poor condition could possibly strand people on the beach with the tide coming in. In November 2018 they agreed to do something and showed us the plans.
In January 2020, work started on a £1.6m worth of improvements to Splash Point, funded by the Welsh Government as part of their Active Travel scheme. These improvements involved installing 2m high rock armour, raising the slipway, resurfacing and improvements to the road, parking area and cycle path, and other small improvements.
In June 2020, the Welsh Government announced another £6m of funding for the promenade as part of the Resilient Roads Fund.This funding is for the heightening of the sea wall, rock armour, and a few miscelaneous works, something similar to the sea defences at Penrhyn Bay. There are however concerns that if the promenade is safe from collapse, the remaining funding to bring it up to a level equivalent to the rest of the Bay of Colwyn, might be considered an even lower priority.
In July 2020, the improvements at Splash Point were completed.
This Association will continue to work hard to make sure that Old Colwyn get the promenade that we have been promised.