How to contact Conwy Council and get things done!

We often moan a lot about Conwy Council but, in my experience, they will sort something out if they are informed about it. So I thought I would draw up this list of email addresses/contact forms for common problems. If you see a problem when you're out and about, please take the time to report it and let us know how you got on here.


Abandoned Vehicles
Online Form: ...dback.asp?stype=vehicle&cat=4533&doc=17389
Phone: 01492 575337
Fax: 01492 575199
Email: environmental.services@conwy.gov.uk

Bus Stops
Phone: 01492 575414
Fax: 01248 681881
Email: bwsconwy@conwy.gov.uk

Dog Fouling
Phone: 01492 575222
Fax: 01492 575204
Email: public.protection@conwy.gov.uk

Flytipping/Dumping of Rubbish
Online Form: ...asp?stype=fly%20tipping&cat=4533&doc=17389
Phone: 01492 575337
Fax: 01492 575199
Email: environmental.services@conwy.gov.uk

Graffiti Removal
Online Form: ...back.asp?stype=graffiti&cat=4533&doc=17389
Phone: 01492 575229
Fax: 01492 575204
Email: communitysafety@conwy.gov.uk

Parks
Phone: 01492 575337
Fax: 01492 575199
Email: environmental.services@conwy.gov.uk

Pavements/Footpaths
Phone: 01492 575491
Fax: 01492 575500
Email: highwaymaintenance@conwy.gov.uk

Potholes
Online Form: ...=pothole&cat=2790&doc=21832&Language=1
Phone: 01492 575 442

Public toilets
Phone: 01492 575337
Fax: 01492 575199
Email: environmental.services@conwy.gov.uk

Road Traffic Signs
Phone: 01492 575491
Fax: 01492 575500
Email: highwaymaintenance@conwy.gov.uk

Roads/Highways
Phone: 01492 575491
Fax: 01492 575500
Email: highwaymaintenance@conwy.gov.uk

Highways - Blocked Drain
Phone: 01492 575491
Fax: 01492 575500
Email: highwaymaintenance@conwy.gov.uk

Street cleaning
Phone: 01492 575337
Fax: 01492 575199
Email: environmental.services@conwy.gov.uk

Street Lighting Faults
Online Form: ...etlights.asp?doc=15473&cat=2805&Language=1
Email: streetlighting@conwy.gov.uk
Phone: 01492 575403

Street Nameplates
Phone: 01492 575491
Fax: 01492 575500
Email: highwaymaintenance@conwy.gov.uk

What if?

What if....the A55 motorway had not been built along the seafront but the alternative route over the hills above Colwyn Bay had been used? Could Colwyn Bay have survived as a seaside resort or, at least, coped better with the downturn in its fortunes?

Or is Colwyn Bay's decline due more to the gradual loss of control over its fortunes and subsequent decline in civic pride since the scrapping of Colwyn Bay Borough Council back in 1974?

Take a look at the 'Then & Now' shot of the Pier below. How things have changed!!!!


Nearly 40 years separate these two photos of Colwyn Bay Pier.

The top one, taken in the early 1970s, shows a bustling pier with Golden Goose Entertainments (Admission Free!), Dixieland Palace Showbar with Cabaret & Dancing, The Lincoln Suite (whatever that is?) and Golden Fry Restaurant.

Today's pic shows a closed and shuttered pier. A cheap looking extension was built onto the front of the Golden Goose sometime in the 1980s, with the Golden Goose itself becoming a combined amusements/cafe/bar area. The Dixieland Showbar (later CJs) and Golden Fry Restaurant both closed in the late 1980s and the pavilion building (to the right) they were housed in is falling further into decay. Even the ornamental turrets have gone from the roof towers!

Colwyn Bay Golf Club, Upper Colwyn Bay

The 100 acre Colwyn Bay Golf Club, situated on what is now the modern housing estates of Upper Colwyn Bay, closed in 1956. It was sold to two local businessmen, who wanted to turn it into a caravan park with 400 caravans, but who were refused Planning Permission in August 1957. In January 1958, Colwyn Bay Borough Council bought the entire site for £10,250 and sold it for a private housing development (called 'Colwyn Heights') in 1960, giving themselves a nice £40,000 profit in the process.

The proceeds were used to purchase the 36 acre Glan Y Don Estate next to Eirias Park for £67,250 - the mansion became the Civic Centre and the grounds became part of Eirias Park. By a series of land deals, the Council ended up with a fine Civic Centre at a net cost of just £1,000 - if only CCBC were so enterprising today!

Location of Golf House on early 1970s Ordnance Survey map:


Map (c) Ordnance Survey

Here's a 1911 map, showing the house, Braeside, that later became the golf club house. It was then demolished and the Pen y Bryn/Taylors built on the site in the early 1980s and opened in 1983:



Looking at Google Maps, it would seem that Braeside was located where the main car park of the Pen Y Bryn is now.

Found the 1911 map showing the Golf Club House when it was on Pen Y Bryn Road, now a house called 'Southbank':



Found this old advert:


I've also heard of a house called Golf Cottage which was associated with the course, it's on Pen Y Bryn Road, just to the right of the road up to the Pen Y Bryn pub - set back from the road slightly, will try and get a photo when I'm in the area next. So might there have been three clubhouses over the years?

Anyone know more?

Civic Centre, Glan Y Don, Colwyn Bay

The map below is from 1913 and shows what was then called Glan Y Don, later to become the Civic Centre for Colwyn Bay Borough Council. You can see the original lane leading to it, still in existence today at the side of the Police HQ. The wooded valley to the other side of Glan Y Don sadly disappeared when it was filled with rubble from the building of the Expressway in the 1980s.



The present 60 room building was built in 1911 as a 'seaside branch' of the Cheadle Royal Hospital, Manchester, a place for people suffering from mild mental disorders to recuperate by the sea.

Before that, there was another house & farm on the site, owned by the Hesketh family.

How it looks today:

Queens Lodge, Queen's Avenue, Colwyn Bay

Following the closure of the John Braddock/Mary Bamber convalescent homes on Queens Avenue, I'd like to ask if anyone knows what the future holds for this magnificent mansion (originally called Queen's Lodge) and 13 acres of gardens?



In terms of size, this property is second only to Pwllycrochan (now Lyndon Preparatory School) in Colwyn Bay and would make an ideal prestigious headquarters office building or maybe a luxury conference hotel. One thing's for certain, we need a usage that creates employment and brings wealth into the town, not another set of luxury homes and apartments.

I found this via Google:
"Terry used to be Head Gardener at Bodelwyddan Castle until he moved to the Medicash Garden in Colwyn Bay, which won several awards under his care. A further move became necessary because the house and garden were for sale."






All photos (c) Scott ...cbay/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.23.1

Plan of Queen's Lodge & Grounds, dating from 1911:


(With the exception of the building of the Mary Bamber Building in 1968 in the top-right of the grounds, Queen's Lodge is practically unchanged in nearly 100 years)

Queen's Lodge was built in 1895 by Mr. W. Houghton, a wealthy Warrington wire manufacturer. The building was sold in 1919 to Frederick Henry Smith, a cotton and india rubber manufacturer who had recently joined the aristocracy by becoming the 1st Baron Colwyn. It was at Queen's Lodge, during the 1920s, that the first informal talks between some of the town's leaders came about to promote Incorporation of Colwyn Bay as a Borough.

In 1946 it was acquired through public auction by the then Merseyside Hospitals Council, to help cope with the demand for convalescence after the end of the Second World War.

The original building became known as the John Braddock Convalescent Home in 1954. It was joined in 1968 by the purpose-built Mary Bamber Convalescent Centre in the same grounds.

Both centres were used by Medicash (formerly the Penny in the Pound Fund) to provide rest and relaxation to people recovering from illness, primarily from the Merseyside area. The company blamed the closure on £1m annual operating costs and less than 1% of the membership making use of the homes.

Set amongst 13 acres of landscaped grounds the sites feature timbered parkland, a wild orchard, sensory garden, vegetable garden, and an authentic Victorian walled garden.

The site also boasts spacious lawns and an ornamental lake with fountain, bowling and putting greens, and impressive views of the North Wales coast.

With thanks to Scott at ...cbay/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.23.1 for some of the information and photos of Queens Lodge. Scott, if you read this, please get in touch!