A PWLLHELI sailing academy has won a top planning award at a prestigious ceremony in Cardiff.

Plas Heli recently scooped the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) award at the Wales Planning Awards.

Plans for the sailing academy were approved in 2010 after it was identified that the land facilities for sailing in Pwllheli were inadequate, and their slow decline was threatening the local marine and leisure industry.

Peter Lloyd, chair of RTPI Cymru said: “Planning has been at the heart of this project, ensuring environmental, economic and community concerns have been met.

“Planners played a role in the crucial partnerships between the council, government and other stakeholders to deliver this high quality project.

“As a keen dinghy sailor myself, I know that this outstanding state of the art complex is meeting the needs of the local community while allowing Pwllheli to compete on the global sailing stage.”