LLANDUDNO’s mayor admitted she got it wrong when she opposed the transfer of the estate where she lives to a housing association.

Cartrefi Conwy, the housing association, has transformed the estate with a £1.4 million makeover.

Cllr Angie O’Grady, the Mayor of Llandudno, was speaking at a special celebration to mark the presentation of a coveted Green Flag Award to the town’s Tre Cwm estate. The flag raising ceremony marked a double coup for Cartrefi Conwy housing association which manages the only two Welsh social housing estates ever to be crowned with Green Flag status.

Five years ago, the Peulwys estate in Llysfaen, above Old Colwyn, became the first to receive the internationally recognised accolade after a massive improvement programme.

At the flag raising ceremony Llandudno mayor, Cllr O’Grady, praised the hard work put in by Cartrefi Conwy and its partner organisations. She recalled how in past years Tre Cwm suffered from a grim reputation before Cartrefi Conwy took over the management of the estate. She said: “I moved here 27 years ago and I remember it was such a dismal canvas, an eyesore where many residents were unsurprisingly unhappy to have to live. The whole place was in need of radical transformation. Now thanks to the hard work put in by Cartrefi Conwy that transformation has been achieved and it’s changed so many lives for the better.”

She confessed to having originally been a fervent critic of the stock transfer 11 years ago. But she said: “I’ve been proved wrong. Cartrefi Conwy has not only calmed my fears but won me round. It’s demonstrated a commitment to investing in improving our homes, our environment and our community. It cares about its residents. This Green Flag award is testimony to that. I’m super proud.”

Tre Cwm resident Lynn Cantwell, said: “I’ve been here from the beginning when the improvements first started to be talked about and then slowly began to happen. They’ve made a dramatic difference, transformed our whole neighbourhood.”

Cartrefi Conwy’s Managing Director, Gwynne Jones, said there has been a complete turnaround from an 80 per cent negative perception on the estate before the work was done, to 80 per cent positive now.

The Green Flag scheme, run in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy, was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces judged by environmental experts to meet the highest standards.