Colwyn Bay receives flood defence funding
The Welsh Government has approved a £6m grant to pay for the next phase of coastal protection works in the North Wales resort.
It is hoped the infrastructure will protect more than 180 properties in Colwyn Bay as well as parts of the A55 Expressway and coastal railway.
Colwyn Bay's seafront, between Rhos Point and Tan Penmaen Head, is 3.5 miles long and much of its defences were constructed in the late 19th century.
The funding announcement will enable 500,000 tonnes of sand to be imported from an offshore dredge site to create a new 800m stretch of beach in Colwyn Bay as part of a £17m revamp of the town.
Work by contractor VolkerStevin starts this month and is scheduled to be completed in April, in time for the town's Forties Festival.
Conwy County Borough Council, through its Bay Life+ programme, has so far invested £11m on improving the town's waterfront and sea defences, supported by Welsh Government and European Regional Development Fund. This work included the erection of a new watersports centre, Porth Eirias, designed by Liverpool-based K2 Architects, Ryder Landscape Consultants and being built by Wynne Construction, which is scheduled to open this spring.
The Bay Life+ programme is also delivering a range of projects which are transforming the town as a whole, including developing Parc Eirias into a new multipurpose venue and a training academy with the Welsh Rugby Union revamping Theatr Colwyn, improving the town centre's streetscape and housing renewal work.
