Headland Link under threat (From Penarth Times)

Headland Link under threat

THE Penarth Times has discovered that the multi-million-pound Headland Link project could be at risk - as the Vale of Glamorgan Council has not yet secured a 300-metre stretch of the proposed route, which remains in private ownership.

And failure to strike a deal on the land could cost the Vale Council - which according to the landowners mistakenly assumed ownership of the land - more than 7 million in funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

The project has been thrown into turmoil at the last minute, because Whannell Contractors Ltd - the owners of the vital land which runs at sea level around Penarth headland - have rejected a 50,000 offer for it.

A Vale Council spokesman said: "We are currently in negotiations over the land."

The kilometre-long walkway - seen by the council as vital to Penarth's regeneration - will provide a link between Cardiff Bay Barrage and Penarth seafront for pedestrians and cyclists.

Andy Wilmot, speaking on behalf of Whannell Contractors Ltd, said: "The Vale grudgingly acknowledged our ownership of land last November.

"In a meeting at their offices in Wenvoe, a senior council officer told us he assumed the land had belonged to the Vale! It is crazy that things progressed so far without them realising that they didn't own the land.

"Jeff James wrote to us on February 20 saying they wanted to meet us, and yet a month on we have still heard nothing - which is strange if the timescale is such a big issue.

"I would like to stress we are very happy to meet with the council to sort this out and find an amicable solution.

"We don't want to put an end to the Headland link project."

On December 1, 2005, Whannell Contractors Ltd turned down a 50,000 offer for the land from Bruton Knowles, acting on behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

A letter to Whannell from Bruton Knowles said: "The Welsh Assembly Government have stipulated that the funding they are to provide must be spent by March 31, 2007, and completion achieved by March 2008.

"If it is anticipated that both of these key milestones will not be achieved, the project will not proceed. In order to accommodate these timescales, my client would like to acquire Mr Whannells' property by agreement.

"We have inspected the property in order to assess its value and can confirm that we consider, given the nature of the property and the unlikely possibility of being able to recover any income from it, that it holds very little value in the market.

"Notwithstanding this and in order to obtain possession of the property quickly to allow the project every opportunity to succeed, my client is prepared to offer 50,000."