Audit Wales recently published their report into the Welsh Government’s involvement (via Visit Wales and Wales European Funding Office/WEFO) in the failed Maritime Centre project at Cosy Corner in Porthcawl (pdf).
The Maritime Centre project (pictured) was scrapped in 2021 after a community interest company overseeing the delivery of the scheme, Credu, collapsed in 2020.
Porthcawl Town Council’s involvement with Credu was investigated during 2020-21 by Audit Wales.
The matter was also referred to South Wales Police for an investigation into potential fraud. According to Audit Wales, the police investigation ended in 2024 as they believed there was no realistic prospect of a prosecution. No charges have been brought.
You can read more background on what happened at the following links:
The estimated cost of the Maritime Centre was £5.6 million when it was first proposed in 2017. This ballooned to £7.7 million at the time of Credu’s collapse.
Since then, a scaled-back regeneration project has been delivered at Cosy Corner. The final piece of that – a new play area – was officially opened in April 2025.
It’s worth stressing that Bridgend Council have not been investigated as part of this report. It’s unclear if/when BCBC’s involvement will be looked into.
Audit Wales’ Conclusions
- The Welsh Government’s management of the project was overly complicated. Due to how it was organised, it wasn’t clear what role either the office in charge of EU funding (WEFO) or Visit Wales (which was responsible for investing in tourist destinations) had, meaning there were few controls.
- Visit Wales didn’t undertake proper “due diligence” (double-checking) duties when they initially awarded funding to Credu. This meant public money was committed to a project which was “high risk from the outset”.
- Visit Wales failed to ensure that Credu had secured all of the match funding they claimed they needed (i.e. from the Big Lottery Fund). In some cases, Credu only received information about their eligibility to apply for loans and grants rather than firm commitments.
- The Welsh Government (via WEFO and Visit Wales) failed to keep close tabs on how Credu spent its money, resulting in them overpaying in some cases. This includes spending by Credu on things that were ineligible for funding, such as costs related to a kiosk on the Promenade run by a tourist development company linked to Credu.
If these things had been chased up properly, Credu’s financial issues would’ve been picked up, with the project considered undeliverable. No funding would’ve been awarded and subsequently lost.
Audit Wales concludes the Welsh Government won’t recover its financial losses arising from the Maritime Centre. They’ve made a formal claim to Credu’s liquidators for £930,000, but the total amount awarded was £1.6 million.
