'Eyesore' former visitor centre to be demolished

The building has been shut for more than three years

A former visitor centre labelled an "eyesore" is set to be "substantially demolished" and turned into a green community space.

Gwynedd councillors have agreed to allow the demolition of the building at Electric Mountain, also known as Oriel Eryri, in Llanberis.

It was previously used as a base for tours of Dinorwig Power Station, a community space and had a shop, information centre and a café.

Previous plans to turn the area into a 110-space car park have been scrapped.

Planning officer Idwal Jones explained the current proposal was now to demolish the existing Electric Mountain Visitor Centre, leaving the existing electricity sub-station.

"Change of use of the site to form a grassland area, replacement of lighting and the provision of electric vehicle charging points at the existing car park and associated landscaping.

"An area of grassland would be used for occasional community events and would include the installation of temporary structures."

The deferred decision over the site's future followed previous plans to replace the site with a 110 parking spaces.

Observations by the community council described the car park plans as "a threat to Gwynedd council's income from car parks".

First Hydro Company, the applicant working on the plans to redevelop the Electric Mountain site, stated the visitor centre had been "under-used" and was "too large for the facilities accommodated inside".

It said the building was too expensive to run and was unsustainable, the ventilation and heating system having reached the end of its lifespan.

The current condition of the structure "is already an eyesore within the local area", the planning committee heard.

The senior planning officer now has the right to approve the application subject to a number of conditions in the planning report.