Confusion among Dyserth Falls time share owners amid ongoing site overhaul

Wesley Paxton, 75, and his wife Lynda, 76, bought a points-based time share in Madeira, but were persuaded to move it to Dyserth Falls, formerly known as Graig Park, following a visit in late 2013.

The couple, who live in Annan, Scotland, made a £6,000 investment, but have sought clarity on the current state of play after Lyons Holiday Parks bought the site in 2019, by which time it was derelict.

Lyons, the country’s largest private holiday park operators, acquired the resort in a bid to revive the spa and holiday let back to its former glory.

It was bought in an insolvency sale, with administrators Opus Restructuring & Insolvency overseeing the transaction, after former owners Dyserth Falls Limited went out of business in 2015.

Work commenced on the large-scale project in 2021, which included a “complete overhaul” of the existing 78 chalets, 12 hotel rooms, and multi-facility complex.

The Lyons group’s construction team spent the summer of 2021 ripping apart the chalets “from the ground up” in order to begin with the renovation works in the new year.

Wesley Paxton and his wife, Lynda (Image: Wesley Paxton)

Mr Paxton said: “We would like to know what is happening. We are two of many ‘Fractional Share Owners’ who were persuaded to move our time share into Dyserth Falls with the promise of more benefits, after investing £6,000 in 2013.

“RCI, the exchange group which we belong to, allowed us to move our holidays around the world on the basis that our timesharing in Madeira was flexible and mobile.

“We ended up in Dyserth Falls for a week in the autumn of 2013.

“The management persuaded us to move our ownership from Madeira to their place, because we’d get more exchange value, and it would cost us £6,000, which we would get returned in 16 years.

“It later supposedly went bust, and since then, little information has come forward.

“We haven’t been able to go back since. It’s a lot of money to write off. We want to be able to stay in our share of the chalets, and exchange them for visits elsewhere as we were promised.

“Time is running out, and if, for several years, we’re not able to use our time share, it might not be long before I am too feeble to travel.

“What is going on?”

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While Lyons Holiday Parks expressed sympathy for Mr Paxton and others in his situation, the group said they could accept no liability for the transgressions of the site’s former owners.

The resort itself, which is overlooked by the SSSI (site of special scientific interest) of Graig Fawr, will eventually comprise 93 apartments, and 12 hotel rooms located both within the complex and to the rear of some of the chalets.

Joseph Lyons Mound, director at Lyons, said: “We are unable to comment on what was said to Mr Paxton in 2013 by an unknown third party, who has no connection whatsoever to Lyons Holiday Park. That is a matter between Mr Paxton, the third party and the receivers.

"What we can say, however, is that since Lyons purchased the site in 2019, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, we have embarked on a systematic redevelopment of the once-derelict site and anticipate being able to open our doors to all visitors in the not-too-distant future.”