September 09, 2026 - 174 views
Buildings at Rhos Point in Rhos-on-Sea could be demolished as Conwy County Borough Council moves to tackle a long-standing eyesore on the seafront.
The council has submitted a planning application for permission to remove the buildings, which have been subject to repeated break-ins and vandalism.
The Grade II listed tower at the site is not included in the proposed demolition.
The council says funding has been secured through the UK Government's Local Growth Fund, and that clearing the site would make it easier for its preferred developer to bring forward plans for its future.
Councillor Sharon Doleman, Conwy's Cabinet Member for Sustainable Economy and Communications, said clearing the site would make future redevelopment easier, but any proposals for what comes next would need to go through a separate planning application.
Rhos Point has a long history as a seaside attraction. The site was once home to Rhos-on-Sea Pier, which stretched around 1,400 feet into the sea and was built to take advantage of the growing popularity of pleasure steamers visiting the North Wales coast.
The pier opened in the 1890s, although its early years were far from straightforward. It initially opened without a landing stage for steamers, and the company behind it went bankrupt within a year. Local businessman William Horton subsequently took over and had a landing stage installed, allowing paddle steamers to call at Rhos.
Its fortunes later declined. The landing stage was badly damaged by a storm in 1917, reducing the pier's usefulness, while changing patterns in seaside tourism and the loss of its steamer trade contributed to its eventual decline. After a fire, the remains of the pier were dismantled in the early 1950s, with the Wales Coast Path recording its demolition in 1953.
One of the old toll buildings survived and remains as an important reminder of the pier's history. The present-day buildings on the site are much more recent, having been used for café and other commercial purposes.
By 2018, Conwy Council described the café buildings as having reached the end of their useful life and began looking for a development partner to regenerate the site.
Plans for a major redevelopment have been discussed for several years, including proposals for a restaurant, coffee shop and other facilities, but progress has been delayed. By 2022 the site had become increasingly overgrown and the buildings were suffering from neglect, with reports of vandalism and break-ins.
The latest application therefore marks another step in attempts to deal with the site.
The hope is that clearing the site will finally allow a new chapter in the story of Rhos Point — a place which once attracted holidaymakers arriving by steamer, but which has spent many years waiting for a new purpose.
