Llandudno North Shore will not get sand soon, councillors warned

Campaigners want to see fewer rocks and more sand on Llandudno's North Shore

Sand will not be restored to a popular resort's beach "any time very soon" because of a lack of funding, a council chief executive has warned.

Rocks were piled onto Llandudno's North Shore in 2014 after storms, to protect seafront hotels against flooding.

After years of wrangling though, Conwy county borough council leaders have backed a plan to restore the sand as part of a £24m flood defence scheme.

However, chief executive Iwan Davies warned the money was not yet in place.

The flood defence project would see cobbles removed from the beach, with sand and wooden groynes reintroduced to break up waves, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The decision was ratified by the council's cabinet on Tuesday but not before Mr Davies sounded a note of caution, apologising he might come across as a sandy-beach "grinch" on the matter.

Council proposals have shown that many areas of Llandudno would be at risk if sea levels rise in the coming decades

"I'm very happy to accept and understand the members' desire for this to happen, but we need to remember the funding for this scheme has not been secured," he said.

"We will not be putting sand on the beach any time very soon because we need to develop the plan but also find that very significant amount of money.

"There's a lot of work, persuasion, to be done before we go putting sand on the beach, which I agree would be a fabulous thing for Llandudno."

• £20m beach defence plans for 'queen of resorts'

• Removing beach rocks could cost £13m

• Battle to bring back sandy beach

Conwy council will now need to produce plans and a business case to bid for a chunk of a £150m fund for coastal risk management on offer from the Welsh government.

It is estimated the council's share of the final bill for the work will be around £3.6m.

The proposals would also see beach management measures adopted on the town's West Shore beach.

Responding to the idea of putting sand back on North Shore, Deganwy councillor Julie Fallon said: "It's a no-brainer for me that it's going to improve tourism.

"Over all the many consultations over the years, I don't think there's been a person who has objected to this.

"I look forward to when I can sit on the beach with my kids and think we helped to make this happen."