However, Senator Sarah Ferguson, who lives in the area, has warned that over-developing the bay risks ruining a jewel in the Island’s ‘tourism crown’.
The proposals for the Wayside Café site include two luxury five-bedroom properties as well as two one-bedroom units for staff accommodation, which would be built on the current car park.
The owners also want to redevelop the current café to create a ‘modern restaurant and deli’ and build a three-bedroom apartment above it, renovate Jono’s Watersports surf shop and demolish a separate property, known as Seabreeze, and build a one-bedroom flat and a two-bedroom flat.
There are also plans to create a walkway, complete with viewing platforms, from the road to the beach via the Conway Tower, which has already been turned into a home, and to create a ‘dune habitat’ for local wildlife and lizards.
Mike Stein, director of architects MS Planning, said the plans had been ‘changed significantly’ from the original scheme following consultations with the public – notably at a parish meeting in March last year, when some residents voiced their concerns.
