A HOUSEBUILDER has hit back after being accused of "banking land".

The Pioneer reported on Tuesday, January 23, that the site of Alice Liddell's holiday home is on the market for £2.25million with Legat Owen.

The land where the second home of Alice Liddell once stood, the girl said to have inspired the Alice in Wonderland tales, has laid empty for years but "a high quality residential apartment scheme" or a healthcare related development could still be built. 

Anwyl Homes are the seller. They have had the land for 16 years and had hoped to transform the former Penmorfa site on West Shore into apartments.

Janet Finch-Saunder, MS for Aberconwy, said: "This is an appalling saga on behalf of Anwyl Construction. They have essentially land banked for almost two decades.

“Whilst Anwyl’s actions have cost the culture and heritage of Llandudno severely, it is appalling that the developer is likely set to make a good profit out of the sale of the land.

“I hope that the future buyer gets on with planning permission and puts forward proposals that will be very sensitive and sympathetic to the historical heritage of the location."

The site is already "under offer". 

The long 900-year lease is on the market for £2,250,000 and expires in March 2922.

A spokesperson from Legat Owen told the Pioneer: "We are presently in advanced negotiations with a buyer, having received interest in the main from developers looking to deliver a high quality residential apartment scheme on the site."

Phil Dolan, managing director for Anwyl Homes Cheshire and North Wales, said: “As a local family-owned housebuilder, and employer of a skilled and experienced workforce, we pride ourselves on creating new sustainable communities.

“We always seek to source our materials where possible from local suppliers to help boost the North Wales economy. Indeed, we still manufacture all our own staircases from our workshop in Rhyl, back where it all started for the family business in 1930.

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“We are proud of our North Wales heritage and any suggestion that we “bank” land, seeking to profiteer from any uplift in value, is entirely incorrect.

"We acquired the former Gogarth Abbey Hotel and subsequently encountered a long and costly planning process. Planning was eventually granted in June 2008, right in the midst of the global financial crisis. Unfortunately, at that time and for several years following, funding in relation to both construction and the mortgage market was extremely difficult to secure for bespoke apartment schemes and many developers across the UK were forced to shift their business priorities as a result.

“For a number of years we sought alternative proposals to make the scheme viable and, in the meantime, our overall business model moved away from building apartments which, due to their bespoke nature, require substantial financial investment from the outset and many specialist contractors and suppliers.

“As a result, we are considering all options for the land as we recognise the need to develop this prominent brownfield site.

"When we are in a position to comment further, we will do so.”

Ms Finch-Saunders strongly opposed the demolition of the building in 2008.

Penmorfa was built in West Shore in 1862 for the father of Alice Liddell. The house was added to over the years and became the Gogarth Abbey Hotel.

In the 1970s scenes for TV adverts for PG Tips were filmed at the hotel, using chimps dressed as humans.

In 2004, designs were released for more than 25 apartments incorporating the Penmorfa hotel but despite a campaign to save the venue, the hotel was reduced to rubble in 2008 by Anwyl to make way for flats.