CONSTRUCTION work began last week on the Parry Thomas Commercial Centre in Pendine. The event was attended by a number of senior Carmarthenshire Councillors, and according to Council Leader Emlyn Dole should benefit visitors and local people alike.
However, the Herald has discovered that the benefits to the local community may be less than were originally claimed.
Back in 2013, the council’s newsroom released a story about the centre, for which funding was being sought at that stage. At this point, the ground floor of the building was described as comprising four kiosk style retail units, plus shower and toilet facilities. These units, it was suggested, would be suitable for beach equipment hire, and associated small businesses.
The first floor, on the other hand, was described as ‘an upper floor events space,’ which would ‘potentially cater for weddings, training, meetings, conferences, and other community uses.’ This was duly reported in the local media as a ‘new community hall.’ The project was due to begin in early 2014.
Fast forward to the present, and work has begun. In the accompanying blaze of publicity, Carmarthenshire Council described the project as ‘comprising four kiosk-style premises on the ground floor and larger commercial premises on the first floor. The Herald was unable to find any record of the change of potential use.
The total cost of the project, which received a grant of £300,000 from the Big Lottery Coastal Communities Fund, was estimated of £960,000 in 2013. Carmarthenshire Council are also providing funding, with £280,000 allocated from the Carmarthenshire Towns Initiative for ‘works at Pendine including the Parry Thomas Centre and Promenade in the 2014-15 funding programme.
We asked Carmarthenshire Council to clarify the projected uses of the ‘larger commercial premises’ on the first floor of the Commercial Centre. A spokesperson told the Herald that “the upper floor of the development will provide a ‘shell’ unit that has the potential to be let for a variety of uses depending on the tenants needs.
“The building and the upper floor area has been designed in a flexible manner to accommodate a variety of uses which could include: its original proposed use as a function and events centre, a restaurant or any other compatible commercial use.”
Any other compatible commercial use appears to be something of a sweeping statement when applied to a ‘shell’ unit. We also asked whether it would still be possible to put the first floor to ‘other community uses’ as was originally stated. We were told that this was ‘still possible.’ However, ‘it depends on who occupies the building, what their proposed use is, and its compatibility’.
They added that this was as per the original proposal. If this is the case, then it is unclear how a plan this vague could have attracted lottery funding. In effect, the plan now appears to revolve around building a large room and hoping that a business of some description chooses to occupy it.
We also asked whether there was a reason for the admitted change in projected usage. The council said: “The relocation of the building to the new location adjacent to the promenade offers the potential to attract additional commercial uses that will enable the project to achieve its main objective of attracting new tourism products or businesses to Pendine that will in turn attract new visitors and provide opportunities for year round local employment.”
Perhaps at some point during the funding process, someone noticed that kiosks selling beach hire equipment would not be doing a roaring trade during the winter months, or that businesses of this size seldom hire many staff.
After all, Executive Board Member for Regeneration and Leisure Cllr Meryl Gravell said: “It is hoped that the new building will attract new businesses to the area which in turn will create employment opportunities.”
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