Campaigners want the former Wilko in Carmarthen saved from the bulldozers so a trampoline park firm can turn it into a family day out.
Buzz Parks, which runs a trampoline park in Swansea, says it has been trying to take on the Friars Park building for more than a year but has had very little correspondence from Carmarthenshire County Council.
Campaigners gathered outside the empty store on Friday evening with “Jobs not rubble” and “Stop the demolition” placards. Representatives of the firm and its red Buzz van joined them.
They want the demolition paused and the council back round the table with Buzz before anything is knocked down.
The council’s notice gave 26 October as the proposed start date. The store is due to come down and the 250-space car park behind it to be rebuilt.
A zip wire, soft play and a sports bar where the tills used to be
Buzz Parks says it would put its own money into the building. Its plans include rock climbing, a trampoline park, soft play, a zip wire, virtual reality rooms, an amusement area, a sports bar and potentially padel courts.
The firm says there would also be dedicated facilities for children with additional learning needs.
Going by how its Swansea venue performs, it estimates the centre could draw between 2,000 and 2,500 families into Carmarthen town centre every week.
Buzz Parks says its surveyor believes the building is viable for a 20-year lease with the improvements it proposes. Campaigners say the firm told them the council could collect between 15 and 20 years of rent.
“Once this building is demolished, there is no going back”
Community campaigner Scott Bayes, who organised the protest, said Friday’s message to the council was simple: “Pause the demolition and re-engage properly with Buzz Parks before this opportunity is lost forever.”
He called Buzz “an experienced operator with a serious plan”. He said the council should explore the offer before “spending further public money demolishing a usable building when no replacement development or new tenant has been announced”.
“Once this building is demolished, there is no going back,” he said. “We need the council to stop, listen and properly compare the benefits of reuse against demolition.”
Mr Bayes said the campaign was not asking for the building to be handed to one company without scrutiny. “It is about ensuring that a credible proposal receives proper consideration before an irreversible decision is taken.”
The council’s case: a £1m roof and a building at the end of its life
Carmarthenshire’s cabinet approved the demolition in July, unanimously and without debate. Condition surveys had found the store needed around £1m of work, most of it on the roof, before it could be relet.
The council concluded the building had reached the end of its usable life. The £2.5m scheme is funded by the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns grant, and £1.5m of it has to be spent this financial year.
Cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Hazel Evans said in July the decision was “an important first step in creating a more attractive town centre asset which meets modern needs”.
The council has said it is in discussions with interested parties about the site’s future. When cabinet signed off the demolition, its report said no agreement had been reached.
Campaigners want the sums behind demolition made public
As well as the pause and urgent talks with Buzz, campaigners want a full and transparent assessment of the firm’s proposal.
They are asking the council to publish its financial and environmental case for demolition compared with reuse. They also want it to say clearly what is planned for the site once the building has gone.
They questioned the environmental cost of flattening such a substantial building with no confirmed replacement development lined up.
“Buzz Parks has put an alternative on the table,” Mr Bayes said. “The public deserves to know why it has not been fully explored.”
From Tudor friary to Tesco, Wilko and an empty shell
The store went up in the mid-1980s on the site of Carmarthen Greyfriars, the Franciscan friary that once held the tomb of Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII.
It traded as Tesco and then as Wilko. The chain’s collapse closed it in October 2023.
The council already owned the freehold and bought the leasehold in March 2024, with the building standing empty. At the time it said it was anxious not to see a prime town centre site left vacant.
The town centre around it has had a turbulent few years, losing Debenhams and Wilko. Even so, Carmarthen High Street was named the UK’s second fastest-growing for footfall in 2025.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
CARMARTHEN: Demolition date set for the former Wilko
Site notices went up at Friars Park in August, with 26 October given as the start date.
CARMARTHEN: Council to demolish former Wilko and car park built over tomb of Henry VII’s father
The July cabinet decision, the money and the history under the site.
Closure dates announced for Wilko stores in Swansea, Neath and Carmarthen
When the shutters came down at Friars Park in 2023.
Carmarthen High Street sees remarkable turnaround with 19% footfall surge
Named the UK’s second fastest-growing high street on 2025 footfall.
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