A FORMER Prestatyn councillor has described a project that has taken more than six years to progress as a "shambles". 

In November 2023, Denbighshire County Council (DCC) demolished a bungalow at The Dell, Prestatyn. The local authority had purchased the property in 2017.

The council plan to build 15 council apartments at the site for social rent and said, at the time, that the demolition of the bungalow signalled the start of the development.

This month, DCC confirmed that "preparations will be continuing during 2024 to enable the construction of new homes on the site as planned" but ex-councillor Paul Penlington, who has been selected as Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Candidate for Clwyd East, said there are "no signs of preparation work."

"Denbighshire's assertion that 'preparations will be continuing' could just as easily be interpreted as 'we've nothing in place' which is what seems to be the case," he said.

"There are no signs of any preparation work since the bungalow was demolished and DCC have made no contact with residents to discuss the outstanding boundary and drainage plans. This is particularly important as the site is currently partially flooded following the rain we've had. A regular occurrence DCC denied but which then turned out to be one of the issues that needed amending on the plans.

"I note there has been no comment from local councillors or the Labour administration on this shambles."

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The Dell is designed for people with limited mobility. There will be five one or two bedroom apartments specifically designed for wheelchair users on the ground floor and 10 one / two bedroom apartments on the first/second floor.

Construction was supposed to start in 2021 but the contractor went into administration.

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: "Development of the land off The Dell in Prestatyn to provide new apartments for social rent was delayed last year when the main contractor entered administration. Towards the end of the year however, Denbighshire County Council appointed a contractor to demolish a bungalow which stood on the proposed access to the new development. That work has now been completed.

"Preparations will be continuing during 2024 to enable the construction of new homes on the site as planned."