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Wales Online
7 days ago
- Business
- Wales Online
Closure warnings during 30-week upgrade of Loggerheads Country Park to cope with visitor surge
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 30-week scheme to revamp one of the busiest visitor sites in northeast Wales is to get underway this month. Main buildings at Loggerheads Country Park are being upgraded to cope with rising visitor numbers. The project will include refurbishing the visitor centre and café, with an enhanced seating area, as well as improving the toilets and carrying out external landscaping. Traditional porches will be installed over the shop entrance and a large sail canopy will be located near the park entrance to act as a meeting point for groups. Denbighshire Council said the project complements improvements also planned at nearby Moel Famau. A spokesperson said: 'The main aim of these improvements is to help manage the challenges linked to a growing number of visitors – currently exceeding 200,000 visitors per year – and meet their increasing expectations.' Initial works will focus on the toilet block, lasting around 10 weeks. A temporary toilet facility will be available on site during the closure. Improvements to the meeting room and café will then take place in the autumn, followed by the visitor centre and outdoor landscaping early in 2026. As these will also need to close temporarily, an 'exciting' pop-up catering facility will be established instead, showcasing produce from northeast Wales. The new canopies are a response to the site's "inadequate" covered outdoor spaces for socialising, eating and drinking. The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now - here's how to sign up (Image: TACP Architects) Solar panels will be installed to improve the site's sustainability. Flood mitigation works at the site were completed earlier this year. Like the building upgrades, the flood defences were funded by £1.4m of UK Government Levelling Up funds. Council Leader Cllr Jason McLellan said: 'We have seen an increase in visitor numbers at Loggerheads Country Park in recent years and projects such as these, once completed, will help future-proof the park and meet the ever-increasing expectations of visitors. 'These sites are much-loved National Landscape areas, and it is important that we continue to maintain and develop sites such as these as their popularity grows to ensure that they can continue to be enjoyed by all who visit.' ParkCity Multitrade Ltd, based in St Asaph, has been awarded the contract. Work will start in mid-August and is expected to continue until early March 2026. Listed buildings at Loggerheads will not be affected by the work. The site was the location of Pentre Mill, an early 19th-century corn mill powered by a waterwheel. The wheel ceased operation in the 1940s but was later restored in the 1990s. In the 1920s, Crosville Motor Bus Company acquired the land, establishing tea rooms and gardens for visitors who mainly arrived by bus. With a bandstand, boating lake and refreshment kiosk, Loggerheads thrived. After a post-war decline, the site was bought by the old Clwyd County Council for conversion into a country park. Sitting below the dramatic limestone cliffs of the Alyn Valley, where the river enters steep wooded gorges, Loggerheads is now a gateway site for visitors wanting to explore the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley. A long-stay car park offers 90 parking spaces. Denbighshire Council has stressed the upgrade is unrelated to the Welsh Government's bid to create a new national park in northeast Wales. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox Find family activities near you
North Wales Live
7 days ago
- Business
- North Wales Live
Closure warnings during 30-week upgrade of Loggerheads Country Park to cope with visitor surge
A 30-week scheme to revamp one of the busiest visitor sites in northeast Wales is to get underway this month. Main buildings at Loggerheads Country Park are being upgraded to cope with rising visitor numbers. The project will include refurbishing the visitor centre and café, with an enhanced seating area, as well as improving the toilets and carrying out external landscaping. Traditional porches will be installed over the shop entrance and a large sail canopy will be located near the park entrance to act as a meeting point for groups. Denbighshire Council said the project complements improvements also planned at nearby Moel Famau. A spokesperson said: 'The main aim of these improvements is to help manage the challenges linked to a growing number of visitors – currently exceeding 200,000 visitors per year – and meet their increasing expectations.' Initial works will focus on the toilet block, lasting around 10 weeks. A temporary toilet facility will be available on site during the closure. Improvements to the meeting room and café will then take place in the autumn, followed by the visitor centre and outdoor landscaping early in 2026. As these will also need to close temporarily, an 'exciting' pop-up catering facility will be established instead, showcasing produce from northeast Wales. The new canopies are a response to the site's "inadequate" covered outdoor spaces for socialising, eating and drinking. Solar panels will be installed to improve the site's sustainability. Flood mitigation works at the site were completed earlier this year. Like the building upgrades, the flood defences were funded by £1.4m of UK Government Levelling Up funds. Council Leader Cllr Jason McLellan said: 'We have seen an increase in visitor numbers at Loggerheads Country Park in recent years and projects such as these, once completed, will help future-proof the park and meet the ever-increasing expectations of visitors. 'These sites are much-loved National Landscape areas, and it is important that we continue to maintain and develop sites such as these as their popularity grows to ensure that they can continue to be enjoyed by all who visit.' ParkCity Multitrade Ltd, based in St Asaph, has been awarded the contract. Work will start in mid-August and is expected to continue until early March 2026. Listed buildings at Loggerheads will not be affected by the work. The site was the location of Pentre Mill, an early 19th-century corn mill powered by a waterwheel. The wheel ceased operation in the 1940s but was later restored in the 1990s. In the 1920s, Crosville Motor Bus Company acquired the land, establishing tea rooms and gardens for visitors who mainly arrived by bus. With a bandstand, boating lake and refreshment kiosk, Loggerheads thrived. After a post-war decline, the site was bought by the old Clwyd County Council for conversion into a country park. Sitting below the dramatic limestone cliffs of the Alyn Valley, where the river enters steep wooded gorges, Loggerheads is now a gateway site for visitors wanting to explore the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley. A long-stay car park offers 90 parking spaces.
South Wales Argus
29-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Council still supports Caldicot Leisure Centre redevelopment
Hopes of potentially millions of pounds of funding to revamp Caldicot Leisure Centre were dashed in November 2023 when Monmouthshire County Council's bid for UK Government Levelling Up funding was overlooked. It was the second time an application to the fund to support the centre was rejected by the scheme. Conservative councillor for Portskewett Lisa Dymock asked at the council's May meeting what it is doing to 'urgently secure funding' for the refurbishment of Caldicot Leisure Centre. Labour's Cllr Angela Sandles, the cabinet member for communities, said: 'A full and complete refurbishment would be ideal but we have to be realistic and funding remains a significant challenge and the council has perused many attempts at grant opportunities but have not been successful.' Cllr Sandles also said longer term plans for the leisure centre would have to align with its broader placemaking plan which initially aims to regenerate the high street and 'in time' the leisure centre. But she said future investment would need to be in line with council's capital strategy and competing demands on its resources. She outlined a series of investments the council has made in the centre including LED floodlights, a multi-use games area with basketball court which the Magor East and Undy member described as 'amazing and very well used' and new indoor cycling studio while a business case is being developed to upgrade the fitness suite. Cllr Sandles said the centre has seen an increase in membership while there has been a fall in anti-social behaviour since a Friday night positive futures programme, supported by the Police and Crime Commissioner, was introduced. Cllr Dymock also asked about repairs to the skate park and Cllr Sandles recognised the need for repairs which would be considered when money is available.
