Fears tourists will be put off by plan for 1,000 new homes at beach

The seaside character of Porthcawl will be ruined if plans for nearly 1,000 homes on the waterfront get the go-ahead, campaigners fear.

The development on the site of the former Coney Beach amusement park and surrounding area, which would increase the town's population by a fifth, also includes a lido, splash park and new promenade alongside the Sandy Bay beach.

The council leader says it strikes the right balance between creating an iconic waterfront and meeting the demand for more housing for local people.

Opponents say the local infrastructure will not be able to cope and Porthcawl will lose its appeal as a tourist destination becoming "another town by the sea".

A consultation has come to an end this week with a final decision by Bridgend council in the autumn.

The initial plan was for 1,100 homes but in response to a public consultation, it has been scaled back to 980, as well as lowering the height of the buildings.

Development plans followed the closure of the amusement park last year after entertaining generations of families for more than 100 years.

As well as the lido, the proposal includes more space for parks, 700 car parking spaces, shops and cafes and potentially a hotel.

The scheme would follow a separate multi-million pound redevelopment currently under way of the Grand Pavilion theatre.

Rebecca Pacifici, from the campaign group Porthcawl SOS Save Our Seaside which has set up to fight the scale of the plans, said: "Regeneration is something this town has been waiting decades for.

"But what people did not realise is that this is a housing-led regeneration and not a seaside regeneration.

"If they do not get the housing numbers right then there will not be enough room in this area to provide a place for the tourists and the visitors on a regular basis.

"We have a new pavilion on its way which will bring in thousands of people all year round. Where are they going to park?

"We have not said we do not want some housing. We think housing is great but it has to be the right balance otherwise the housing will overtake the ability for this to be a destination seaside resort."

The aim is to set aside 50% of the new homes for affordable housing.

Bridgend council it's part of a plan to build more than 7,500 new homes over the next seven years across the county to cope with what is one of the fastest growing populations in Wales.

The final decision set to be made by the council is said to be on a knife-edge with Labour members expected to support it and independents voting against.

A recent proposal to build a five-story apartment block for affordable flats at the site of a former restaurant in the town was rejected.

But the leader of the council, John Spanswick, said the £250m investment would make it the biggest regeneration scheme ever undertaken by the council.

While he accepted there are concerns among some, he believed the silent majority had accepted the benefits it would bring to the area.

"We are listening to the public but we need local homes for local people," he said.

"The problem now is people who grow up in this area cannot stay in this area and bring up their own families, they have to move out of Porthcawl.

"This is not about building houses to make money, this is about building a complete waterfront scheme for the future of Porthcawl."

Peter Leivers, 75, from Bridgend, said: "There seems to be an emphasis on housing rather than leisure.

"It's a seaside resort and there should be more of an emphasis on the holidaymakers.

"That is a lot of houses. They could temper it a little bit. I know it's a fine balance but I still think it's excessive."

Ann Leivers, 70, from Bridgend, said Porthcawl could increase its housing and still remain a seaside resort.

"To attract people they need to make it look as good as possible," she said.

Valerie Channell, 77, from Bridgend, said: "As long as they do not take the atmosphere away from here. This is a brilliant place to come and stay."

Megan Crawford, 16, said: "I think it's too much change. People come to Porthcawl because they like the way it is now and more houses are going to take away from that."