FEATHERS have been ruffled over the state of a unattractive building which has been taken over by pigeons.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said he had seen birds nesting in the “unsightly” former Next building, located on Rhyl High Street.
The building, which is earmarked for apartments or businesses units, is covered in bird droppings and full of feathers. The reader fears its appearance is putting off holidaymakers from visiting the town.
“It is dreadful. It looks dreadful,” he said.
Picture: The former Next shop on the corner of Market Street in Rhyl. GA180419B
“What are the council doing? Are they going around Rhyl with their eyes shut? I’m sure there is holes in the building and the birds are nesting. It looks like it has been hit with a bomb.
“I’m sure it is putting visitors off.”
More than £1.3 million of Welsh Government Targeted Regeneration Investment is being invested to revitalise the town centre.
The shop door window has been smashed. Picture: Geoff Abbott, GA180419B
Denbighshire County Council has used the funding along with its own match funding, to buy the former Next and Granite Outdoors stores on the High Street, the adjacent retail unit at 4 Wellington Road and the auction room in St Helen’s Place and will be refurbishing the buildings to create nine residential apartments and four units for small local businesses.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “This funding will help the Council and partners deliver the new Rhyl Town Centre Masterplan by introducing new uses into buildings which were previously used exclusively for retailing. It will support the millions of pounds the Council has invested in the town including SC2, which included funding from Rhyl Town Council, as well as our investment in housing and private sector investment.
“We have already started some initial works on the former Next building, starting with a clean-up which started this week.
“There has been issues with pigeons at the location for some time and now that we have purchased the building we have employed a specialist environmental contractor to relocate the pigeons and remove droppings from the ground floor shop unit.
“This will help improve the visual image of the building and will complement other works going on in the town centre”.
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