Car park scheme could revive area

Jan 15 2009 by David Simister, North Wales Weekly News

A TROUBLED car park on Pensarn’s seafront is in line for a revival following a grant to upgrade its security.

Dave Holland, county councillor for Abergele-Pensarn, said on Tuesday that £11,000 had been earmarked for enhancements to the council-owned car park later this year, with new gates and fencing forming part of the proposed improvements.

“The car park on the seafront is very popular with tourists, but I think it’s been the case for several years that the area is in need of lifting and I think this money could go a long way to helping,” he told the Weekly News.

“As well as helping improve the security on the site, I think that if we choose the enhancements carefully we can help improve its appeal to visitors, which is why the fencing and gates we’re looking at is pleasing to the eye as well as being effective.”

The car park has been the site of several visits by travellers in recent years, including in October last year which councillors and traders reported at the time was damaging to trade in the Pensarn area.

Businesses operating in the area have welcomed the plan.

“We have been involved in meetings with the county council to discuss what can be done, and we fully support the plans to improve the car park and its facilities,” said Julie Williams of the Pantri Bach cafe, which operates next to the car park on Sea Road.

It is also hoped that if the enhancements get the go-ahead, a summer market which operated on the site in previous years would return to the area, giving Pensarn’s tourist appeal an added boost.