A celebration has been held to mark the completion of a £24.5 million housing development that created 100 construction jobs.
The 182-home Victoria Park scheme in Llandudno Junction defied the recession with more than 30 properties being sold every year since work started five years ago.
Local AM Janet Finch-Saunders joined Simon Macbryde, the MD of house builders Macbryde Homes, and the purchasers of the final property, Geoff and Hilary Leyland, for a champagne toast.
According to a study conducted by Macbryde Homes, who are based in St Asaph, the people now living in Victoria Park contribute £5 million annually to the local economy and have paid £1 million in Council Tax over the past five years.
Mrs Finch-Saunders said: “They’re really quality, well-built houses and have certainly provided much needed investment and infrastructure here within the constituency of Aberconwy.
“People don’t tend to realise the value of a development like this to the local economy – it has actually taken £24.5 million in investment and we need more of it.
“It’s fair to say that this development has Macbryde’s name which is a quality name. The fact that the houses have sold throughout says a lot about the developer.
“It also says a lot about where people actually want to come to live and I’m delighted with the number of houses here now and this development is going to bring over 300 people in to Aberconwy who’ve chosen to live and work here.”
Among them are computer consultant Geoff Leyland and his wife, Hilary, who identified the plot they wanted three years ago, giving them plenty of time to sell their previous home in Conwy.
Geoff said: “We just rented after we sold, just round the corner, three doors down. We’ve seen our house being built from the ground up which was very exciting.”
Wife Hilary added: “We know the neighbours already and it’s a lovely little community.”
Managing Director Simon Macbryde, who lives in Deganwy, said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved at Victoria Park over the past five years.
“It has been a very successful scheme from the very beginning. We sold a minimum of 30 houses every year which is remarkable given the economic backdrop during the worst recession I have seen in this industry since I started in 1985.
“You always need to have a good location for a high quality development but that is even more important during a recession.
“Here at Victoria Park we have had the right product and that has helped us ride the recession – that hopefully speaks volumes for the quality of the homes we build.
“Victoria Park includes a complete cross section of homes including town houses as well as traditional family homes with three or four bedrooms.
“The development has also been very good news for the local economy. Not only has it generated 100 jobs, the people living here now spend in local shops and are helping the area to thrive and prosper
“There is a huge demand for houses in the county of Conwy and we are doing our best to play our part in building more homes locally with a proposed development in Old Colwyn.
“As a company, we are going from strength to strength we have five sites started this year in North Wales and the North West – and we have a couple more in the pipeline. Things are looking good.”
