Background and history 

In January 2006 a planning application was made to demolish the Sea Lawns Hotel and to replace it with a block of 24 luxury flats.

This proposal  caused outrage in the local area. In February 2006 a public meeting was held to guage the reaction to the proposal. More than 150 people attended and feelings were strong. 

A "Save the Sea Lawns" committee was formed and worked  to coordinate the widespread opposition to the plan. In this website we published the latest information on the status of the planning application and suggestions on how we might fight

The Planning Application was unanimously rejected by the Vale of Glamorgan Planning Committee on the 14th June - but the developers  appealed to the Planning Inspectorate on grounds of non determination. The Public Enquiry was held on the 10th and 11th October.2006  

On the 22nd November 2006 the Inspector published his report - the Planning Application was rejected!

There were two reasons given by Mr Stuart Wild, the Planning Inspector for the Welsh Assembly .

1) The Unacceptable loss of an important community and tourism facility

2) The effects of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area.

The current building, together with all of the surrounding dwellings fits into the landscape and follows the contours of the land. The proposed building would have been too high and too big - out of proportion with the surroundings.  

The enquiry as it happened day by day

On Tuesday October 10th 2006  at 10 am Mr. Stuart Wild, the Planning Inspector for the Welsh Assembly opened the Public Inquiry to hear the case for and against the proposed demolition of the Sea Lawns and its replacement with 24 luxury flats. The hearing was disputed between John Williams and the Vale of Glamorgan County Council and the representatives of both sides sat across the table at the Vales offices in Barry.

The Vale’s case was expertly presented by Morag Ellis QC, an expert in planning law based in London. The first witness was an expert on the valuation and sale of commercial premises – Mr. Phillip Dawkins. He stated his view that the Sea Lawns was a very viable business, able to offer a variety of different services as a hotel, a public house and a function venue. It would, in his opinion, particularly suit a couple who would live and work at the hotel. He valued the business at £675,000 when it was licensed and operating last year although that would have fallen to about £575,000 in the past few months as the business is closed.

The next witness was Mr. Steve Ball, the Principal Planning Officer for the council. He outlined the two reasons that the council recommended a rejection of the application.

1) the loss of the Community facility

2) the size, scale design and appearance of the proposed apartments.

After outlining the Council’s case Mr. Ball explained that he was a frequent visitor to the Sea Lawns himself having drunk there on many occasions and having attended a wedding and a christening there in the last few years. In the cross examination he was asked about the other nearby pubs (Three Golden Cups and the Pelican) and there was a debate about their convenience for the village. Needless to say there was a difference in opinion across the table about how easy it was to walk along the road to either!

During that first morning the Inspector also heard representations from Alun Cairns(Conservative AMP) and Carwyn Jones( Labour AMP). Both the AMP’s had broken into their busy schedules in order to address the hearing and they eloquently argued the case for preserving the Sea Lawns for the sake of the community in Ogmore by Sea. Alun Cairns also questioned the need for more “luxury” flats in Ogmore. Carwyn Jones explained how he had known John Williams for many years as he had used the Sea Lawns for his surgeries (another example of how the Sea Lawns was used as a community facility).

John Williamswas the next to take the witness stand. He explained that business had been affected by the foot and mouth outbreak, the closure of some large businesses in the Bridgend area and the opening of many budget hotels. He stated that he had started to think about selling the Sea Lawns when he was taken ill in 2004.The new licensing laws, the Disability act and the rules on Fire Risk Assessment had also affected his decision. He said that he put the hotel on the market in April 2005 at an asking price of £1.75 million. He said that there had been little interest in the business as a going concern. (He was asked under cross examination whether he and his advisors had considered reducing the price given that it was about 3 times the expert valuation. He said that they hadn’t.) Mr. Williams said that he decided to look at the option of developing the site in parallel to the sale and began discussing this with the planning authorities in June 2005. His intention would be to carry out the development himself in partnership with Mr. Andrew Probert. Mr. Williams adamantly maintained that the Sea Lawns was a hotel and not a public house - despite evidence that the property was marketed in 1993 and in 2005 as a public house.

The advisors for the developer, Mr. Derek Prosser and Mr. Gareth Thomasalso gave evidence in favour of the project.

There were representations from the public against the proposal.

Ken Hubble, Chairman of the Save the Sea Lawns Committee, spoke on behalf of the locals in the village. He outlined the history of the Save the Sea Lawns campaign from the first meeting at the Watermill until today and stressed how strongly people felt on the issues.

Audrey Preston made a statement about the response she has had from her constituents. John Jones told the Inspector about the Ogmore Players and their performances at the Sea Lawns.

Lewis Chamberlain told how his hotel in the Brecons had been affected by the foot and mouth outbreak and how he had built the business back with the aid of grants.

Les Walters, Chairman of the Community Hall Project gave an update on the state of that project and explained how it would not impact the Sea Lawns business.

Speaking in support of the application Peter Beales said that the Sea Lawns was not well supported by the village and commented on how few people he recognised at the public meetings.

After both sides had made their summing up statements the meeting was closed. The Inspector then made a site visit to the Sea Lawns. He was accompanied by Steve Ball, Ken Hubble, John Williams and Derek Prosser. They looked inside the premises and walked extensively around the village and along the coast.