Plan for seafront maritime centre in Porthcawl under threat

A council has threatened to take back land earmarked for a £5.5m maritime centre unless the charity developing it can prove it has the necessary cash.

Credu Charity Ltd, which is calling in administrators, blamed Bridgend council for endangering the project at Porthcawl with delays and changes.

Tourism body Visit Wales withdrew its support in August saying a rise in costs made it unviable.

Contractors have left the site claiming they have not been paid since January.

The proposed maritime centre at Cosy Corner on Porthcawl's Esplanade was given planning permission in November 2018, with the hope of creating 120 jobs.

Visit Wales was contributing £600,000, along with £2.1m of European grants and £1.15m of lottery funding.

Mike Clarke, chair of Credu and a local councillor, claimed the threat to the project was "entirely the responsibility" of Bridgend County Borough Council.

He said the charity's funds had "become drained" by delays in securing a lease on the council-owned land, and £450,000 spent on redesigns had "proved fruitless" when the authority insisted on further changes.

Commercial use of the site had also been cut from a recommended 30% to 20%, Mr Clarke added.

In response, Charles Smith, Bridgend's cabinet member for regeneration, said: "Throughout its development, the maritime centre project was continually described as being community-driven and entirely independent from the council's own regeneration plans.

"Now that it has stalled, we are hearing that the council was somehow responsible after all."

Mr Smith added: "Instead of trying to blame someone else, I think the community would be better served if greater accountability was taken on seeking options for recovering from this setback."

The charity did not comment on claims it had not paid contractors Andrew Scott for work on the site since January when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.