Bay Campus on Schedule for September opening

Swansea University’s new Bay Campus on Fabian Way is on target for completion ready to welcome the first students through its doors in September this year. The latest images of the construction, including interior shots, have been released and can be viewed on the University’s website. www.abayoflife.com/2015/04/bay-campus-on-schedule

New £600,000 cycle path to link Bay Campus with city

A £600,000 new section of cycle path is due to be constructed along Swansea’s Fabian Way to help provide a key link to the new beach-front university campus development, due to open to students in September this year. Building work on the new route, which is being part funded through local transport grant funding from the Welsh Government, is underway and will involve the widening of the existing pavement to create a shared cycleway and pavement for pedestrians, stretching from the Fabian Way Park and Ride centre to Baldwin’s Bridge. The investment will also include the installation of new bus shelters along the way for public transport users.

Sustainable landscaping for Bay Campus

The UK’s leading regeneration specialist, St. Modwen, the land owner and lead developer for the Bay Campus project has worked with local architects to ensure the Bay Campus’ landscaping complements the impressive array of buildings. The widening of Fabian Way to form a safe main entrance to the Bay Campus required the removal of the existing vegetation, but there has been extensive new planting along the Fabian Way boundary. Across the development, almost 3,000 trees have been planted in total – 200 trees ranging from planted size, 3.0m to 4.5m high, including alder, birch, poplar, rowan, and hawthorn, as well as 2,700 trees ranging from planted 2.5m to 3.0m high, including alder, birch, poplar, pine, rowan, and hawthorn. In addition, a total of 3,800 shrubs, including hazel, hawthorn, holly, alder buckthorn, blackthorn and field rose, have been planted. Consultation was undertaken with the ecologist from Neath Port Talbot Local Authority to ensure that the appropriate plant species were of local origin and would not cross-pollinate with the adjoining Site of Special Scientific Interest.

See a video of the new £450m Bay Campus www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFosI0jjz5E

Consent for the World’s first Tidal Lagoon power plant

With the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon becoming a reality, locking in 120 year life, zero carbon energy infrastructure, we have the potential to help transform our industrial economy and the UK’s energy mix.

Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon unlocks local and international opportunities

The delivery of the £1bn Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will kick-start a programme of Chinese investment into UK infrastructure and the pursuit of a tidal lagoon development programme that could see British expertise and technology exported to Asia.  Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc (TLSB) has named China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, one of the world’s largest specialist marine engineering contractors and investors, as its preferred bidder for a marine works package that will include the construction of the six mile lagoon wall in Swansea Bay.  As well as committing to approximately 50% UK content for the delivery of the package, CHEC has established a UK subsidiary company and has set out its vision to pursue a UK infrastructure investment programme over the next decade. Tidal Lagoon bosses have also named a South Wales company as preferred bidder for one of the main civil engineering and construction packages. The £25m contract to provide ancillary civil engineering for the project’s public realm works, which includes the breakwater surface, roads, slipways, utilities and landscaping, is to go to Abergavenny-based Alun Griffiths Ltd. Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc said the contract would be delivered by a local workforce and materials will also be sourced locally.  see also www.abayoflife.com/2015/06/welsh-firm-lined-up-for-25-million-contract-by-swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon

Morriston Hospital’s £60m development opens

The new main entrance to Morriston Hospital, the focal point of the £60m new development at the hospital, has opened its doors to patients, visitors and staff. The new block will become home to a range of key outpatient services which will transfer across from the old sections in the weeks and months ahead, with endoscopy due to be the first to go live. An estimated 264,000 patients a year will use the new facility which also includes outlets for Costa Coffee, Subway and WH Smith which will open this summer.

New £6m residential development planned for SA1

Contracts have been exchanged between the Welsh Government and Persimmon Homes West Wales for the sale of two residential sites on SA1 Swansea Waterfront – leaving only four remaining housing plots available for sale at the landmark regeneration development. It marks another investment by Persimmon Homes West Wales on SA1 where the company has recently completed the new family led Haven development overlooking the Prince of Wales Dock. Persimmon is planning a £6m residential development of 50 new townhouses on the new sites that will support a substantial number of construction jobs, with work due to commence later this year, subject to planning approval.

Port Talbot set to be transformed as £30m regeneration programme is unveiled

More than £30m will be spent on regenerating Port Talbot over the next three years with the town set to be transformed as part of Neath Port Talbot Councils Vibrant and Viable Places regeneration Programme.  The authority will be receiving £9.6m in Welsh Government funding for projects in and around Port Talbot over the next three years, but in excess of £30m will be spent on plans.  One of the council’s biggest projects will be the town’s new integrated transport hub, which will see the bus station expanded and taxi ranks added, bringing various modes of transport in and out of the town together in one place.

Local contractors benefit from care home build

Local building contractors have benefitted from the construction of the new £5.6m Caewern Residential Care Home in Neath.  The 60 bed care home will be the second facility being built in Neath Port Talbot as part of Gwalia’s Improving Residential Care partnership with the Council and incorporates a dementia-friendly design, with each cluster of bedrooms having a living and dining room, an assisted bathroom and sensory garden. The care home, ‘Plas Bryn Rhosyn’, is due to be open in October 2015.

Council agrees to fund £5m Carmarthen West link road

Advance funding for the £5m Carmarthen West link road will be provided by Carmarthenshire Council, it has been confirmed. The Council agreed to pre-fund the link road as part of the 1,100 Carmarthen West development and, if necessary, to use compulsory purchase powers to secure the land required.  The link road forms a key element of the development and will connect the A40 at Travellers Rest with College Road, providing direct access to the trunk road network for St David’s Park and the University of Wales Trinity St David’s Carmarthen campus, as well as S4C’s relocation to the town in 2018. Carmarthen West is identified as a strategic site within the council’s adopted Local Development Plan and is allocated for mixed-use development.

Five bids received for Penllergaer Civic Centre site

Five bids have been received to regenerate the Penllergaer Civic Centre site just outside Swansea, with the majority of the bids received from a mix of both local and national house builders. The sale of the site is part of the Council’s strategy to review its ownership of its buildings and land as they look to become more efficient and streamlined.

Possible developers for Swansea sites revealed

Council bosses have revealed the names of the five companies they have chosen to come up with plans to deliver their vision for the land where the Civic Centre now stands and the old St David’s shopping centre site. Each will be asked to submit detailed plans by the end of July with the final development partners to be named by the end of the year. The five companies, all of which are or have been involved in major city regeneration projects across the UK, are: Bellerophon, heading a consortium bid including M&G (Prudential), Dawnus Construction, SSE & Apollo (IMAX); Rightacre/Exemplar; Rivington Land and Acme; Trebor Developments; and Queensbury Real Estate. See also, Swansea’s future video proposal, Bids to regenerate Civic Centre and old St David’s site shortlisted by council, Swansea City Plans, Swansea City advisory group formed, Aquarium plans for seafront

Exciting SA1 plans revealed for the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David announced that it has signed an agreement with the Welsh Government to collaborate on the Waterfront Innovation Partnership to redevelop the SA1 region of the city.  Key elements of the agreement include developing the SA1 master plan to reflect new joint economic and educational priorities, a collaborative approach to engaging with business and industry, promoting entrepreneurial, research and commercialisation opportunities in line with the Welsh Government’s priorities, and the University’s academic portfolio as well as joint infrastructure investment. The University aims to develop expertise and technology to attract new private sector companies, partnerships and investment in areas such as tidal renewable energy, in partnership with the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. It also plans similar activity in industrial design and engineering, enterprise and entrepreneurship and, through the development of a new School of Architecture, in the field of sustainability and the built environment. UWTSD has bought sizeable areas of  SA1 Waterfront for the development, which will include purpose-built facilities for learning, teaching and applied research as well as social, leisure and wider recreational spaces. see also Exciting SA1 plans revealed, £100m Swansea campus plans move forward

‘Greener’ Kingsway part of bid to attract developers to Swansea

A new public space and greenery could be introduced on Swansea’s Kingsway in a bid to attract office and residential developers to the area. The pedestrian-friendly plaza could replace some of the road’s current central reserve and four lanes and roundabouts could be reinstated at both ends. Swansea Council has earmarked the Kingsway as a new “employment district” for the city aimed at financial services, hi-tech businesses and new start-ups and a study into the future of the area had concluded that major investment in the road’s look and layout is needed to make it an attractive proposition for developers. Swansea Council’s cabinet has already approved the regeneration of the Kingsway as part of its city centre plans and the local authority is considering building an admin block to house staff currently working in the for-sale Civic Centre

Biggest solar energy park in Wales could be built on site of former BP Chemicals plant

Developer St Modwen has submitted plans for one of the biggest solar energy parks in Wales. The company is asking Neath Port Talbot Council for permission to establish a 40,000 panel solar energy park on land which was formerly part of the BP Chemicals plant close to the M4-side Baglan Energy Park. St Modwen, the developer behind the nearly completed Swansea University second campus project at nearby Jersey Marine, suggest the solar park could generate up to 10 megawatts of power, the equivalent of providing enough energy for around 2,000 homes. The Baglan Bay solar park, says St Modwen, would also include the construction of a substation, a 20-metre high communication tower and security fence and CCTV facilities. The developer says the ground-mounted panels would be connected to the National Grid.

Swansea Council buys former Oceana nightclub

Swansea Council has completed a deal to buy the 100,000 square foot former Oceana nightclub complex on the Kingsway with plans for the existing building to be demolished and, subject to funding, the construction of a new office development. It is part of the council’s plans to get more people living and working in the city centre to create more vibrancy, attract more private sector investment and generate the kind of visitor numbers that are seen as essential to strengthening its place as a key driver of the Swansea Bay City Region economy as a whole.

 Restaurant and cafe bar unveiled for Oyster Wharf in Mumbles

Restaurant chain Prezzo and cafe bar operators Loungers, have been unveiled as the first of several businesses to sign up to the Oyster Wharf development in Mumbles. They are set to occupy the two restaurant units adjacent to the Tivoli building, facing onto and overlooking Swansea Bay. Cornish clothing and homeware brand Seasalt will also make its Welsh debut and set up shop at what is now The Cooperative, along with clothing outlet Joules, which will make the short move from its current, smaller premises on Newton Road. And a unit on Tivoli Walk has already been earmarked for a relocated Mumbles Post Office. The identity of two further restaurant ventures to move into Oyster Wharf are due to be announced shortly. T Richard Jones Ltd, Ammanford, have been confirmed as the construction company for the development which already has planning permission and is expected to cost £3m – £4m to deliver. see also Exciting news Mumbles development gets go ahead from planners, Mumbles seafront in line for multi-million pound facelift

Vetch masterplan review approved, with plans for care home at former stadium site

A review of the masterplan for the former Vetch stadium site has been approved. The proposals contained in the review reduce the housing provision estimate to 40 new homes plus a new care home or flats. In addition, around 0.7 hectares of public open space can now be accommodated including the retention of the Vetch Veg Community Garden. A Design and Conservation Team was instructed by the Regeneration Department to review the existing Vetch masterplan, with specific instructions for an increased area of community open space, a reduced number of terraced homes, a care home and associated garden/parking spaces and the retention of a location for the potential community centre. Plans could also include a wild flower meadow and community orchard.

Future for historic Hafod Morfa Copperworks is revealed

Plans for the way Swansea’s historic Hafod Morfa Copperworks site could look in future have been revealed, with a new visitor centre, conference facilities and incubation units for start-up digital businesses all on the drawing board. A vision document that’s now been released for the site also includes proposals for a history centre, an urban square, a brewery, a restaurant, a pedestrian bridge that links to the White Rock site, affordable housing and the restoration of historic engine sheds to show how they worked in their prime. Other plans include a workshop providing metalwork craft demonstrations and visitor activities. A pontoon could also provide mooring for Copper Jack — Swansea’s community boat — and other river craft. Regeneration of the site has already started as part of a project called Cu@Swansea being led by Swansea University and Swansea Council and the partners are about to sign a 15-year agreement to further preserve and develop the site.

Work to revamp Swansea Market’s iconic roof hits the halfway point

Expert work to refurbish historic Swansea Market’s iconic roof is now over halfway there. The work in renovating the iconic landmark includes the refurbishment of the existing barrel roof and renewal of the roof and gable glazing.  It also includes essential repairs to the flat roof and roof light lantern and is due to be completed by the late summer.

Revised scheme for Swansea’s Morfa Distributor Road given the go-ahead

A revised scheme to complete the Morfa Distributor Road has been given the go-ahead after members of Swansea Council’s planning committee approved the £4.55 million project, which will link the A4067 Cross Valley Link — near the Liberty Stadium — to New Cut Road. The second phase of the Morfa Distributor Road has been held up due to land issues surrounding the Bernard Hastie site and the redevelopment of the nearby Maliphant Rail Depot. The slightly revised scheme also takes into account Swansea University’s plans to create a visitor and education centre at the former Hafod Copperworks site.

Preparation work starts on £5m Carmarthen West link road

Work has started in preparation for construction of the new £5 million Carmarthen West Link Road. Initial work has involved felling some trees and the clearance of bushes near car parks at Saint David’s Park and Pentremeurig Road, which Carmarthenshire Council said will create a corridor for the main construction work. The Carmarthen West Link Road is required before work on housing developments can start and will provide a direct link between north west Carmarthen, at College Road, and the A40 at Traveller’s Rest. Council transport chiefs said it will also help to alleviate congestion problems in the locality, while providing direct access to St David’s Park, the University of Wales Trinity St David’s and serve the proposed new S4C headquarters. It is hoped the Carmarthen West Link Road will be completed by 2018.

Private hospital plans for Felindre are revealed

The Healthcare Management Team, operators of the Sancta Maria private hospital in Ffynone, Swansea, has announced proposals to build a new facility at Felindre Business Park to replace its current one. The hospital offers a range of treatments, with departments including gynaecology, neurology and vascular surgery as well as carrying out cosmetic surgery, such as liposuction and breast reduction. If approved, the proposed new hospital will include 18 patient rooms, a six-bed day ward, 13 consulting rooms, two theatres and an endoscopy theatre. The Healthcare Management Trust says new positions will be created to help increase the range of services at the hospital whilst it continues with its development plans for the new site.

£7.3m Baglan Bridge to open up economic opportunities

The new £7.3m Baglan Bridge has been officially opened. The new bridge and the resulting links to Harbour Way have already shown their value, being key in attracting a new £5.7m investment on Baglan Energy Park. The new development, due for completion this summer, will provide a new Medical Centre and Pharmacy to serve the Briton Ferry area, together with 20,000 sq ft of new commercial office space, the latter of which has been partly funded by the South West Wales Property Development Fund. And it is anticipated that the bridge will open up the whole of Baglan Bay to further investment and regeneration opportunities.

Plans unveiled for redevelopment of Llandeilo Market

Carmarthenshire Council has announced has announced that, following a national marketing campaign in 2014, Dawnus Construction has been appointed as preferred developer for the for the renovation of Llandeilo Market which aims to bring the historic building back into use. The Council said that detailed design and planning discussions have been held to formulate plans for the refurbishment of the hall for non-residential uses and that the intention is for the car park to remain and to be extended into land to the rear to create a larger car park.

Gwalia development wins Building Excellence Award

A Gwalia development of 13 apartments on the site of the former St. Mark’s Church in Waun Wen has won the ‘Best Social or Affordable Housing Development’ category in the Swansea Building Excellence Awards. Built by Hale Construction for the not for profit housing provider, the development has been recognised for good building practice including technical innovation, sustainability and high performance. Having won the category, Ty Llew will now progress to the South Wales Regional Building Excellence Awards where it will be up against winners from 9 other local authorities and, if successful, will proceed to the national awards.

swansea observatory plans

Exciting £500,000 plans for Marina Observatory

Work will start on Swansea’s newest seafront attraction in the spring when the disused observatory in the Marina will be transformed into a continental-style cafe. The old promenade building will also house luxury holiday accommodation with an art gallery, public observation deck and function room over the top two floors, with a licensed restaurant below that. Work is due to start in April with the aim of being complete by September.

Grand Hotel expansion plans given go-ahead

The Grand Hotel, which is the first sight for many visitors to the city if visiting by rail, has been given the go ahead to expand into three adjacent properties to create around thirty more bed spaces. The project also involves change of the use of the downstairs units, to increase the size of the hotel’s existing conference and banqueting room to enable it to accommodate up to 300 people, and a new frontage, at 197-201 High Street. It is anticipated that the work will generate an estimated 20 new jobs.  See also Grand Hotel chiefs look to expand.

Swansea’s High Street to benefit from new Arts Council of Wales funding

A regeneration partnership in Swansea, led by Coastal Housing Group and Volcano Theatre, is one of only seven innovative partnerships in Wales to be chosen for new funding from the Arts Council of Wales as part of their Wales’s Ideas: People: Places initiative, which aims to put the arts at the heart of the community. The consortium will receive £199,445, spread over two years, for the next phase of their ‘From the Station to the Sea’ project, which is focused on regenerating Swansea’s High Street. This phase will see the team bringing artists together with local organisations, schools, residents and traders to produce creative responses to issues already identified, making imaginative longer-term transformations of buildings, street features and facilities, and of people’s experiences of the High Street. The phase will kick off by inviting the community to transform the exterior of the old Iceland Building, which will also act as the project hub where people can come and share ideas or find information

Local contractors win work on Neath Town Centre’s redevelopment

Planning permission granted for new Carmarthen housing co-operative

Not for profit housing provider Gwalia has been granted planning permission to build 27 new homes on land off Heol Dyfnallt in Carmarthen. It is anticipated that work will start on the £3.3 million development in spring 2015. Gwalia is working in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council to deliver the affordable homes as a housing co-operative, one of three Welsh Government pilot projects in Wales. The design of the two, three and four-bedroom homes has been inspired by the local architecture; brickwork facades mirror the material used most frequently in the locality, while the angular bays of nearby Job’s Well House have been modernised and incorporated into the design.

New Grŵp Gwalia housing development on Swansea Seafront

Local housing organisation, Grŵp Gwalia, is building 29 new homes on the site of the former Pantycelyn Hotel on Oystermouth Road. The £2.95 million development will comprise of 1 bedroom apartments, 3 of which are wheelchair accessible. The design of the new development has taken inspiration from the surrounding Victorian architecture. The development is due for completion in early 2016.

Critical ambition behind city centre improvements

The micro-poem “Ambition is Critical”embedded into the concrete outside Swansea’s High Street station is set to get a fresh lease of life, one of a number of actions aimed at sprucing up the area. The works, which are due to begin on January 5 and take 10 weeks to complete, also include new signs and maps, and the removal of some safety railings to improve pedestrian access. The junction outside the railway station will also be resurfaced, and traffic lights will be upgraded. Improvements will also be introduced at both the junction between College Street and High Street and the junction between Castle Bailey Street, Caer Street and Wind Street, with a pedestrian crossing which will allow people to cross the road diagonally. In the first Swansea Bay City Region board meeting chaired by Sir Terry Matthews, the regeneration of High Street was heavily discussed and this project is a forerunner of things to come.

Contractors appointed for new school in Baglan

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council has appointed Bouygues UK as the main building contractor for the new school in Baglan Bay. The £40m development is supported by a 50% grant fund from the Welsh Government’s 21st Century School Programme with the remaining 50% coming from the Council’s own resources. The new ‘all-through’ (3-16) school will replace Cwrt Sart Community School, Glanafan Comprehensive School, Sandfields Comprehensive School and Traethmelyn Primary School. It will accommodate 1100 secondary age pupils and 300 primary age pupils and 100 specialist places for pupils with additional learning needs. The community will have access to sports facilities and other areas in the building for academic and vocational purposes, as well as performance spaces, meeting rooms, conference and recreation facilities. The school is due to open in September 2016.

Multi-million pound regeneration project to “transform” Port Talbot

Neath Port Talbot Council secured funding from the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Places (VVP) programme to undertake a number of regeneration projects in the town centre, with key partners. The three year programme for Port Talbot will transform the living and working environment of the town centre. The work involves 10 projects and will link up with developments at Harbourside and Aberavon Seafront, as well as other regeneration activities that are underway in the Sandfields and Aberavon Communities First areas. The programme plans to deliver 140 new homes, 2,000 square metres of additional commercial space and environmental improvements to more than 350 residential properties. The £25 million project was launched as construction got under way on the first development at Green Park, a £4.5 million project which is being delivered by Coastal Housing on behalf of Neath Port Talbot Council.

£20m projects transforming Baglan Energy Park and Aberavon Seafront

Two key developments worth a combined total of more than £20m are progressing in Neath Port Talbot. A £7.3m bridge which will link both sides of Baglan Energy Park is on track to open in March while a £13.4m leisure centre is due to be completed by the end of 2015 on Aberavon Seafront. In Aberavon, timber roof beams are being installed over the pool hall at the leisure centre and roof coverings are being progressed over the existing bowls hall building. Brick and block work is progressing to the building within the structure of the original bowls hall. This will house the community meeting rooms, the youth club and the dry sports changing area at ground floor level and the fitness room, spin room and dance studio at first floor level. In Baglan Energy Park, the four span composite concrete and steel deck of the bridge is now in place, bridging the railway lines, and the internal link road to the power station is also complete.

Major infrastructure improvements in Carmarthenshire support job creation

Carmarthenshire Council has unveiled its transport improvements across the county, set to cost £35 million over the next five years, which will help to improve road safety and bring more than 1,000 jobs to the county. There are three major infrastructure projects including Cross Hands economic link road which consists of a new single carriageway highway running from Black Lion Road to the A476 north-east of Gorslas. The scheme also incorporates phase two of the economic link road from Black Lion Road to Gorslas, which will form a direct access to Cross Hands East which will help with the creation of around 1,000 jobs. The council has also identified the Carmarthen West link, a new road from the A40 dual carriageway to College Road near Parc Dewi Sant and Trinity St David’s University, which is essential for development in the area. There are also proposals to improve Llanelli Railway Station as part of the transport plans.

Work begins on new £5.7m development on Baglan Energy Park.

The development of a new primary and community care centre for the people of Briton Ferry, together with high quality office space, has begun on a site next to NPT Council’s Quays building. The new centre will provide 1,420 square metres over two floors for the two GP practices based in Briton Ferry, serving some 12,500 patients, and community services delivered by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. It will also allow the provision of some new services, improving the overall level of patient care offered in the area. The centre, which is costing £3.4 million, will have designated car parking for patients, including disabled parking spaces and drop-off facilities.

Plans in for next Coed Darcy development

St. Modwen has submitted an application to build 79 houses as part of the next phase of its wider £1bn Coed Darcy development in Neath. The scheme will comprise a range of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties and, if approved, work is expected to start on site in early 2015. Coed Darcy is being developed over a 25-year period. Once completed, it is expected to provide more than 4,000 houses and about 500,000 sq ft of commercial accommodation.

New supported living facility in Swansea given the go ahead

A new eight bedroom supported living facility in Gorseinon is being developed by Coastal Housing Group in partnership with the Swansea Young Single Homeless Project (SYSHP), an innovative organisation dedicated to providing a range of housing and support services to young people aged between 16 and 21. The development will see the demolition of the existing building and the creation of a new-build facility which, once completed, will be used by SYSHP to provide accommodation for young people currently in need of a home. Coastal Housing Group will now look to appoint a main contractor in early 2015 with the site works due to start in mid-Spring 2015.

Rheola Market Leisure complex plans approved

Plans which will see 46 homes, along with 100 log cabins and a leisure complex built at the old Rheola Market site between Glynneath and Resolven have been given the green light by Neath Port Talbot Council. The project also includes proposals for plenty of green space for residents and visitors and the proposed leisure complex will include a restaurant, bar, shop, swimming pool and a gym, in a bid to make the site a “holiday destination” for tourists visiting the valley.

Work starts on Coastal Housing’s vibrant hub for creative industries

Work has started on the first dedicated work space for creative industries in Wales. Part of Coastal Housing Group’s £25m Urban Village regeneration scheme on Swansea’s High Street, the Creative Cluster will cover 30,000 sq ft of space over six floors.

New life for Felindre former tinplate works site on the horizon

The former Felindre tinplate works, just off the M4 north of Swansea, could soon be home to high-tech manufacturers and research and technology industries following a multi-million pound scheme to transform the 84 acre site, which is almost complete.

New city venture for Swansea hotelier Martin Morgan

Hotelier and Swansea City football club director Martin Morgan is set to expand his business empire after being granted permission by Swansea Council to convert the Queen’s Buildings in the Maritime Quarter into a ground floor bar restaurant, with hotel accommodation upstairs. The buildings, which are currently empty, are adjacent to the popular Queen’s Hotel watering hole and a stone’s throw from Morgans Hotel. The Queen’s Buildings are set within a conservation area and, according to a design and access statement submitted as part of the planning application, will not be altered or expanded as part of their future use.

New housing development at Llanelli Waterside

Work is underway on the Grŵp Gwalia development which will see 25 new homes built on land off The Avenue in Llanelli. The development is part of the Llanelli Waterside regeneration project, a flagship partnership between Carmarthenshire County Council and the Welsh Government. The £3.3 million Gwalia development will comprise of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses and 2 bedroom bungalows and will provide affordable homes in a desirable location near cultural and leisure facilities, open waters and green parkland.

Former Swansea student village could be transformed into housing estate with hundreds of homes

Approval is expected to be granted in spring 2015 with work on the site scheduled to start in early 2016. Regeneration specialist St. Modwen has submitted a planning application to build around 300 new homes at its Hendrefoilan development in Swansea. The 52 acre site provides an opportunity to create a high quality development of around 300 homes, with a range of house sizes, across 20 net acres.

£6.7m historic garden restoration bid

Experts hope to unearth the original landscape on the historic site of the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire in a £6.7m project. If given the go ahead it will see the restoration of seven lakes and waterfalls created 200 years ago when it was home to a wealthy family. The garden has just been given £300,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop the plans.

Former factory site set for starring role in city’s entertainment industry

A former Swansea car parts factory which has been reborn as a film set could be set to expand further after a re-brand. The 250,000 sq ft facility has already been used as a set to film hit US series Da Vinci’s Demons, but by marketing itself as a fully-fledged studio, it could become a magnet for film professionals as well as stars of stage and screen.

Image of the new planned state of the art college campus for Port Talbot unveiled

The proposed new state-of-the-art Afan campus for NPTC Group — formerly Neath Port Talbot and Powys Colleges — has been revealed. The development, which is planned for the Harbourside docks area of Port Talbot, is likely to cost around £28 million and will replace the present Afan campus in Margam. The College are working closely with Neath Port Talbot Council and recently formally presented their architects’ plans and 3D visualisations to the planning department. The college is also liaising with the Welsh Government who they hope will provide 50 per cent of the funding.

 Plans approved for £40m Gower College Campus expansion

Plans for a £40m college campus for Gower College Swansea, which include the redevelopment of the empty Hill House hospital and a revamp of the Tycoch campus, have been approved by Swansea Council.  The new facility will provide 18 teaching rooms for the humanities, IT and languages and will have a gymnasium on the ground floor with male, female and accessible shower facilities.  The building is being designed to BREEAM Excellent level and will have photovoltaic panels producing some 23kWhs of electricity on the roof.  Other sustainable initiatives include LED lighting and high efficiency spray taps.

Swansea city centre gets multi-million pound boost

Swansea city centre is to benefit from an £8.4 million funding boost through its Realising the Potential initiative, following a successful bid for the investment from the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Places project. Landing the funding also provides a further opportunity to bid for additional funding from Europe and other Welsh Government sources. If all these various funding bids are successful, and they achieve match funding from the private sector, then it could see more than £330 million of investment for Swansea city centre over the next seven years.