Colwyn Bay Waterfront Regeneration Project

This paper provides the background to the development and progress to date (2014) of a coastal regeneration scheme in Colwyn Bay, North Wales that integrates improved coastal defence and amenity with regeneration of the waterfront and the town as a whole, from the perspective of the Council Officers charged with delivering the project.

The development of proposals for regeneration of the Colwyn Bay Waterfront arose primarily from the amalgamation of two separate initiatives:

The Waterfront Strategy provided recommendations for regenerating the Waterfront area of Colwyn Bay. The ability to regenerate the Waterfront however was identified as being reliant on carrying out improvements to the ageing coastal defences that date from the early 1900s, and which were in need of refurbishment, set against a background of lowering beach levels across the frontage that had been on-going for most of the 20th century. Identification of how best to carry this out was developed through production of a Coastal Defence Strategy.