Development Highlights

£15m grant to revitalise city school
Pupils can look forward to state-of-the-art education after plans for a £21 million revamp of Morriston Comprehensive School were unveiled. Swansea Council has landed a £15 million Welsh Assembly grant for the work. Meanwhile, in Carmarthenshire, education chiefs are celebrating a £10.2 million windfall for a new state-of-the-art school in Furnace, Llanelli.

600k funding injection for Swansea High Street
A city centre development — hailed as the most important in the past 40 years — has been given a six-figure funding boost. The Urban Village plan for Swansea's High Street has been awarded £600,000 by the Assembly Government's Strategic Regeneration Area programme.

Work on boulevard scheme could start by end of year
The city's European-style boulevard is a step closer. Swansea Council's cabinet has approved plans to start preliminary work on Oystermouth Road from the Strand to the LC. It is the first phase of the boulevard regeneration scheme. Work could begin by late 2010.

£7m boost to make train station more accessible
Port Talbot Parkway railway station is to receive a £7 million boost. The station is in line for major improvement work, due for completion by 2014, to make it easier to access. The upgrade is part of the Wales Enhanced Station Improvement scheme.

Go-ahead for Ffos Las to race ahead with housing development
Ffos Las is to become a centre for hundreds of luxury homes. Carmarthenshire councillors have come out in favour of plans to establish a further 280 houses at the Ffos Las Racecourse in Trimsaran on top of the 248 which already have planning permission.

Cycles, gardens and angling part of £16m tourism push
Tourism across Wales will share nearly £16m of investment. More than £5m will go towards creating the “most exciting and accessible off-road cycle trail network in the UK”. More than £4.5m will be spent linking and improving great garden estates in South-West Wales.

Welsh heritage attractions receive £2.2m Lottery Grant
Two of Wales’ most popular heritage attractions have received a lottery grant of £2.2m. The funding boost will allow the completion of works aimed at safeguarding Oystermouth Castle in Mumbles and conserve the landscape at Blaenavon’s World Heritage Site.

Multi-million pound plans to give Mumbles pier a new lease of life
Details of a multi-million pound facelift of Mumbles pier have been unveiled. The plans include the creation of a hotel, restaurants and apartments, which owners of the Victorian pier, Ameco say could bring hundreds of jobs to the area. It would also see restoration of the grade two listed pier, and the creation of boardwalks, cafes and a family entertainment centre.

Housing plans 'will transform Swansea riverside area'
Plans to create a new riverside community have taken a step forward. Developer Bellway Homes has submitted plans to build 103 houses and flats between the River Tawe and New Cut Road. Another developer, Watkin Jones, said it planned to start work on a large student development at the same site this summer.

£750m regeneration bid 'set to create thousands of jobs'
Work has started to clear the way for a £750 million regeneration of the former BP Chemicals site in Port Talbot. Leading regeneration specialist St Modwen has started the programme of remediation.

Sports arena for college
A £6 million sports arena is being built next to the Neath Port Talbot College Sports Academy at Llandarcy. The academy was developed between the college, Llandarcy Park and the Ospreys, and the three partners are also behind the international-standard hard-court arena.

Coed Darcy - artist impression

Coed Darcy homes on Sale
The first homes at the Coed Darcy development in Neath Port Talbot will go on sale.

2M Regeneration of four rural towns
A vision for the future of four Carmarthenshire towns is about to be unveiled. Exciting plans have been drawn up to regenerate the rural communities of Laugharne, St Clears, Newcastle Emlyn and Pendine.

Flagship Art Centre for Carmarthenshire
A new regional hub for the industry has been developed in the heart of St Clears. Brand new studios are available for let, giving artists a first-class base to indulge their creativity. Workshops, incubator units, meeting rooms and activity space have been created at the £431,459 Carmarthenshire Centre for Crafts.

Watersport bid charts a course for bay success
Details of the new £4 million Swansea Bay water sports centre have been released, with plans for Swansea Marina, St Helen's waterfront and Mumbles.

Developer sought for historic copperworks site
A hotel, restaurant and residential development could soon be in the pipeline for an historic Swansea site. Swansea Council has now put the city's famous Hafod Copperworks Site out to the marketplace and is seeking declarations of interest by the middle of August. The site makes up over 12 acres of land close to the River Tawe, the Liberty Stadium and the Parc Morfa Retail Park.

High Street Urban Village courtesy of icreate

Plans for Urban Village
Plans to breathe new life into Swansea’s High Street have taken a step forward. Planning permission has been granted for a £25m urban village in High Street, The Strand and Kings Lane. It is based on a series of courtyards linking shops, offices, food and drink outlets and "affordable" apartments. http://www.icreate3d.com/news/swansea_urban_village.pdf

Rugby stars cook up plans for Llanelli’s Pumphouse
Wales and Llanelli rugby stars Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones have joined a team of developers transforming an historic waterside Llanelli landmark building into a top restaurant. Work has started on restoring the iconic Pumphouse, which once operated massive gates on Llanelli’s North Dock, into a restaurant.

Next Phase of Gwyn Hall
Morgan Ashurst has just been appointed as the main building contractor for the project which will see the historic venue redeveloped into a new modern arts and cultural venue, whilst retaining its original facade.

First all-3D cinema a coup for Carmarthen
Wales’ oldest town will become the first place in Europe to have a purpose-built all 3D, digital multiplex cinema. The cinema will form part of the St Catherine’s Walk development in Carmarthen, which opened on Friday, April 30.

Multiplex cinema and hotel in the centre of Llanelli
Carmarthenshire planners have approved an application by HDD (Llanelli) Ltd for a mixed use development including a multiplex cinema and hotel in the centre of Llanelli.

The Bay Science and innovation campus

Progress for Swansea University £500 million campus
Plans for a £500 million university campus off Fabian Way have taken a big stride forward. Swansea University has submitted an outline planning application for the development, which is to be called The Bay Science and Innovation Campus.

Plans for Swansea rail station revamp are unveiled
Plans to upgrade Swansea railway station are going on show for the first time as part of a £150m programme backed by the Department of Transport to improve stations in Wales and England. A larger concourse, a new booking office with extra ticket machines, toilets, shops and CCTV cameras are among the improvements.

Quadrant Bus Station (artist's impression)

Swansea quadrant Bus Station is shaping up
Swansea's City Centre bus station is in the process of a multi-million pound redevelopment. Swansea Council says its target is to have its state-of-the-art replacement up and running before the start of the busy Christmas trading period. http://www.swanseacitycentre.com/busstation

SA1 Waterfront, Ethos, Technium II & Admiral Building

SA1 £7million project reaches major milestone
Construction crews have made watertight a five-storey building on Langdon Road which will house a 132-bedroom Premier Inn hotel, a 4,500sqft Tesco Express store and a Beefeater restaurant. The development is expected to create around 90 new jobs, with Tesco being the first to open its doors in October. Meanwhile, Whitbread is looking to open the Premier Inn and Beefeater restaurant in early 2011.

SA1 art plans to boost waterfront development
A new SA1 Swansea Waterfront Public Art Strategy has been approved by Swansea Council's cabinet, with around £1.11 million worth of funding provided by developers.

Further information on SA1 developments can be found at www.sa1swanseawaterfront.com