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Wales Online
04-05-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Funding 'pledged' as community eyes up Anglesey beauty spot earmarked for £250m holiday complex
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A community's 14-year battle to reclaim an Anglesey beauty spot from developers could be nearing a turning point. Funding has been reportedly pledged to finance the purchase of Penrhos Coastal Park (CP) depending on insolvency outcomes and a fraud investigation by police. A Community Interest Company (CIC) is being established to formalise a possible future bid by residents in Holyhead and beyond. This will aim to 'facilitate community ownership of Penrhos for the benefit of future generations'. The CIC hopes to overturn planning consent awarded for almost 500 luxury lodges at the 200-acre site. Having acquired the coastal park in January, new owners the 79th Group talked of a £250m development starting this summer. But a City of London Police investigation was launched into the Southport-based asset management business. On February 28, the force said four people connected to the company had been arrested and bailed as part of 'Operation Mold '. This week, notice was given that eight companies associated with 79th Group had been placed into administration. They were were among a batch of 13 79th Group vehicles that had filed notice of intention to appoint an administrator. These included DJC Leisure, which at the turn of the year bought 18 parcels of Penrhos CP land from former site owner Land and Lakes. Penrhos CP supporters have also learnt that 'hundreds' of 79th Group staff have been told their jobs have gone. Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community Penrhos stalwart Hilary Paterson-Jones has led efforts to thwart plans for a luxury holiday complex ever since former site owner Land and Lakes announced its intentions in 2011. She said the fraud case implications for Penrhos were currently uncertain. But the new CIC – expected to be formalised this week – will explore opportunities that might arise from this uncertainty. (Image: Ian Greig/Wiki) Hilary said: 'We've already had offers of funding from numerous private sector, government and individual sources. At the moment I'm not at liberty to say who they are. The admin team will also be looking to secure additional funding from other sources, including crowdfunding initiatives, with a view to bringing Penrhos into community ownership.' Since the launch of of formal police investigation in February, the 79th Group has stopped all interest and redemption payments to loan note holders - these raised cash by offering investors high returns over a fixed period. The suspension of payments has raised liquidity concerns and has left investors frantic with worry. A collective civil recovery process is in its early stages. When the City of London Police announced its investigation, Anglesey Council expressed 'great concern' over the development. With support from local councillors, Penrhos supporters now aim to overturn planning permission controversially awarded by the council for a holiday complex in 2016. If stripped of consent, it's hoped other developers will be deterred and the site's asset value will fall. Supporters will also be assessing possibilities should DJC Leisure enter administration. Hilary set out the CIC's plans yesterday with Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Senedd Member for Ynys Môn. (Image: Land & Lakes) Having lost a £40,000 High Court case against the Penrhos development last year, Hilary hopes a turning point has been reached. She's been keeping a watch on the wooded site since 1969 when Anglesey Aluminium sought consent for a vast smelter on Holyhead's outskirts. She said: 'The then Welsh Office insisted that 272 acres of the 790-acre site were set aside as public amenity in perpetuity – I watched the company secretary type out the agreement. 'This became the coastal park which is home to an ancient woodland and some of the last surviving red squirrels in Wales. It was and, still is, a refuge for local people. So when the site was bought by Land and Lakes for holiday chalets, depriving the community of its legacy, it caused a huge outcry – it was among the first things I mentioned when I initially addressed the council chamber. 'Bringing the coastal park into community ownership would be a way of squaring the circle after all these years.' Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday At stake is more than local pride and amenity, Hilary added. In the fight against climate change, Penrhos CP is an important bulwalk against carbon emissions, she said. 'I struggle to understand why the Welsh Government is paying to plant trees in countries like Ghana when it won't safeguard ancient woodlands in Wales like the one at Penrhos. 'We are a tiny island and I fear we may as well float off into the Irish Sea for all the lack of support we get here. If the coastal park is ever lost, Holyhead will become a concrete town with barely a single tree left.' Find out what's happening near you
North Wales Live
04-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Live
Funding 'pledged' as community eyes up Anglesey beauty spot earmarked for £250m holiday complex
A community's 14-year battle to reclaim an Anglesey beauty spot from developers could be nearing a turning point. Funding has been reportedly pledged to finance the purchase of Penrhos Coastal Park (CP) depending on insolvency outcomes and a fraud investigation by police. A Community Interest Company (CIC) is being established to formalise a possible future bid by residents in Holyhead and beyond. This will aim to 'facilitate community ownership of Penrhos for the benefit of future generations'. The CIC hopes to overturn planning consent awarded for almost 500 luxury lodges at the 200-acre site. Having acquired the coastal park in January, new owners the 79th Group talked of a £250m development starting this summer. But a City of London Police investigation was launched into the Southport-based asset management business. On February 28, the force said four people connected to the company had been arrested and bailed as part of 'Operation Mold '. This week, notice was given that eight companies associated with 79th Group had been placed into administration. They were were among a batch of 13 79th Group vehicles that had filed notice of intention to appoint an administrator. These included DJC Leisure, which at the turn of the year bought 18 parcels of Penrhos CP land from former site owner Land and Lakes. Penrhos CP supporters have also learnt that 'hundreds' of 79th Group staff have been told their jobs have gone. Penrhos stalwart Hilary Paterson-Jones has led efforts to thwart plans for a luxury holiday complex ever since former site owner Land and Lakes announced its intentions in 2011. She said the fraud case implications for Penrhos were currently uncertain. But the new CIC – expected to be formalised this week – will explore opportunities that might arise from this uncertainty. Hilary said: 'We've already had offers of funding from numerous private sector, government and individual sources. At the moment I'm not at liberty to say who they are. The admin team will also be looking to secure additional funding from other sources, including crowdfunding initiatives, with a view to bringing Penrhos into community ownership.' Since the launch of of formal police investigation in February, the 79th Group has stopped all interest and redemption payments to loan note holders - these raised cash by offering investors high returns over a fixed period. The suspension of payments has raised liquidity concerns and has left investors frantic with worry. A collective civil recovery process is in its early stages. When the City of London Police announced its investigation, Anglesey Council expressed 'great concern' over the development. With support from local councillors, Penrhos supporters now aim to overturn planning permission controversially awarded by the council for a holiday complex in 2016. If stripped of consent, it's hoped other developers will be deterred and the site's asset value will fall. Supporters will also be assessing possibilities should DJC Leisure enter administration. Hilary set out the CIC's plans yesterday with Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Senedd Member for Ynys Môn. Having lost a £40,000 High Court case against the Penrhos development last year, Hilary hopes a turning point has been reached. She's been keeping a watch on the wooded site since 1969 when Anglesey Aluminium sought consent for a vast smelter on Holyhead's outskirts. She said: 'The then Welsh Office insisted that 272 acres of the 790-acre site were set aside as public amenity in perpetuity – I watched the company secretary type out the agreement. 'This became the coastal park which is home to an ancient woodland and some of the last surviving red squirrels in Wales. It was and, still is, a refuge for local people. So when the site was bought by Land and Lakes for holiday chalets, depriving the community of its legacy, it caused a huge outcry – it was among the first things I mentioned when I initially addressed the council chamber. 'Bringing the coastal park into community ownership would be a way of squaring the circle after all these years.' Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday At stake is more than local pride and amenity, Hilary added. In the fight against climate change, Penrhos CP is an important bulwalk against carbon emissions, she said. 'I struggle to understand why the Welsh Government is paying to plant trees in countries like Ghana when it won't safeguard ancient woodlands in Wales like the one at Penrhos. 'We are a tiny island and I fear we may as well float off into the Irish Sea for all the lack of support we get here. If the coastal park is ever lost, Holyhead will become a concrete town with barely a single tree left.'
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Anglesey: Major fraud probe into planned holiday park owner
A major fraud investigation has been launched into an asset management company that recently bought a contentious holiday park Seventy Ninth Group purchased the planned site at Penrhos Coastal Park in Holyhead, Anglesey, in City of London Police said it was investigating a "suspected widespread fraud case" involving investors being offered high returns on their force said four people have been arrested as part of Operation Mold, with weapons, cash and luxury watches seized in raids in Merseyside. The Seventy Ninth Group describes itself as a real estate and wealth management company, with headquarters in Southport in addition to leisure sites such as Penrhos, it also has mining operations in Guinea and Canada. "The Seventy Ninth Group operates in real estate, claiming to specialise in the acquisition, management and development of lucrative assets," said the force in a statement."They offer investment opportunities selling loan notes secured against properties."Investors were offered returns of between 12% and 15% on loans starting at £10,000, police added."The Seventy Ninth Group tells investors that funds are used for real estate, wealth and aviation," added the group announced at the start of January it had purchased what was known as the Lands and Lakes development near Holyhead, as part of a £250m plan to build a holiday park with nearly 500 chalets and leisure to its website, it said the park would be completed by the summer of development was bitterly opposed by supporters of the coastal park, including a failed judicial review in October last year disputing the planning permission granted by the county council on Anglesey. On purchasing the site at the start of the year, Jake Webster, the managing director of the The Seventy Ninth Group, said it was looking forward to developing a "world-class holiday destination in collaboration with the local community".The firm also pledged to invest £1m in local schemes on the group has been approached by BBC Wales to comment on the on-going of London Police said it carried out searches at five separate properties in connection with the The Seventy Ninth Group, seizing a "large amount of cash, weapons, luxury watches and jewellery".Four people arrested have been released on bail as inquiries to the investigation, the council's chief executive Dylan Williams, said: "The allegations are a cause for great concern."We will not be making any further comment until the outcome of police investigations, or any related legal proceedings, have been concluded."The City of London Police has issued an appeal for anyone who has been contacted by investors from the The Seventy Ninth Group or who work for the company to contact them as part of the investigation.
