Physical Regeneration
Consultations
Town Centres
Town centres
are a meeting place for commercial, cultural and civic activities
and provide a common identity and a focal point for surrounding
communities. As such, many opportunities are to be found within
town centres to make a positive impact for the benefit of
businesses, visitors, residents and investors.
The Property and Regeneration team has responded by leading the
delivery of development projects and public realm enhancements in
the main town centres to improve the image and performance, create
investment opportunities and to maximise the contribution to the
local economy.
The team has adopted a particular approach to town centre
regeneration, which is characterised by the following features:
- strategy based
- intensive action programmes
- innovative design
- high quality of design and materials
- close involvement of town centre users
- partnership working
This approach has
been successful in:
- attracting new investment
- strengthening retail performance
- creating strong individual identities
- improving the town centre environment
This approach has been successful in attracting large amounts of
grant assistance, particularly from the European Union and Welsh
Assembly Government.
Port Talbot
A programme of award winning projects has been undertaken in
Port Talbot for the physical regeneration of the run down and
under-performing town centre. The programme included high quality
treatment of the main shopping streets, new parking facilities,
enhanced civic square, canopy for High Street Bridge and a
Shopmobility facility. These projects supported major private
sector investments that included a new town centre superstore and a
complete refurbishment of the Aberafan Shopping Centre. The
programme concluded with the installation of a series of exciting
public art works that have given the town centre a strong
individual identity. Funding for the programme 
was received from
the European Union, Welsh Assembly Government and the Arts Council
of Wales.
A major refurbishment of the Multi Storey car park has been
undertaken with the aid of funding from the Welsh Assembly which
has transformed the car park to a modern and user friendly
facility.
Plans are also being drawn up for the regeneration of the lower
Station Road area of the town, providing a Parkway facility for
Port Talbot railway station and creating new development
opportunities within the town centre.
Port Talbot is now a strong and vibrant town centre with all the
facilities to meet modern shopping requirements. Improvements
continue to be made through private sector investments and the
Commercial Property Grant Scheme, which
is managed by the Property and Regeneration team.
Neath
Neath has a compact and historic town centre that has remained
relatively successful as a centre for commerce and leisure. The
town benefited from a comprehensive renewal in the late 1980s,
which included the pedestrianisation of the main shopping streets
and the development of a town centre food superstore.
However, in order for the town to prosper in the future it was
recognised that improvements could be made to the town centre
environment and new development opportunities realised. In 2001 a
team of consultants was commissioned to prepare an Environment
Study, which identified priority improvement projects for Neath,
focusing on important gateways and strategic sites located in and
around the commercial core of the town centre.
These projects are being delivered through a rolling programme
as funding is secured. Funding for the schemes to date has come
from a combination of the County Borough Council, Welsh Assembly Government,
European Union and Cadw.
Windsor Road / Stockhams Corner was completed in 2002. This
project has greatly improved the main vehicle route into the town
and has resulted in a general uplift in retail and development
activity along its length and a marked reduction in unoccupied
units.
The refurbishment of Neath Bus Station was completed in April
2004 and has provided an attractive and efficient facility in an
impressive historic setting – see below for further information on
this project.
The improvement of Orchard Street and The Square in the centre
of the commercial area was undertaken in 2005. The scheme includes
better traffic management, environmental enhancements and
strengthened links with the bus station and Victoria Gardens.
Neath Bus Station
The best of the old is being protected and enhanced whilst new
investment is being used to create facilities that meet the
expectations of consumers. The extensive refurbishment of Neath Bus
Station, which was completed in April 2004, is a case in point,
having created a more efficient facility that sympathetically
echoes the conservation qualities of the setting in its design.
Functionally, the new service incorporates an electronic real time
information system, advising passengers of precise arrival times.
It also incorporates improved and safer traffic and pedestrian
movement and has opened up views into the historic park of Victoria
Gardens. The scheme has incorporated the fully refurbished original
shelters of the gardens and a completely renovated toilet block
into the design, and has introduced new street furniture in a style
that contributes to the character of the Conservation Area.
It is hoped that the scheme will be followed by a series of
further improvements to Victoria Gardens subject to a successful
Heritage Lottery bid.
For further information on the above please contact telephone
01639 686414 or e-mail
i.williams@npt.gov.uk.
Neath
Town Centre Objective 1 Programme
European grant funding of over £2.5m has been secured through
the Objective 1 Programme as part of a funding package of over £8m
to undertake the next phase of regeneration for the town centre.
The money is being used to transform areas of the town centre
including the improvement of Angel Square and Church Place together
with improvements to the street furniture and town centre signage.
The programme will also include extending the Authority’s grant
schemes for the commercial property improvements and for the
restoration of heritage buildings in the town centre.
Two major private sector regeneration projects will be carried
out with the redevelopment of the Liberal Club for offices and the
Bluebell Inn as a new hotel.
The programme of projects is expected to bring some £4.5m of
private sector investment into the town centre, improving 26
buildings and accommodating 262 jobs.
The Angel Square scheme has recently been completed with the
other projects due to start early in 2007.
Neath Town Centre Management
The regeneration programme is being delivered in close
consultation with the Neath Town Centre Forum, a partnership of
town centre users, businesses and key organisations. Essential to
the success of this partnership has been the role of the Neath Town
Centre Manager in maintaining good working relationships. Further
information is available on the Town Centre
Management section of this web site.
Property Improvement
The Regeneration team manages a number of property grant schemes
aimed at improving business premises in commercial areas. The
emphasis of the initiatives is on encouraging business growth and
new ventures, creating employment and enhancing the commercial
environment through high standard property improvements. The grants
will complement other work being undertaken to regenerate town
centres. See separate section in this web site for further details
on property grants.
Aberafan
Seafront
Abarafan Seafront provides 2 miles of safe, sandy beach with a
promenade for walking and cycling and superb views over Swansea Bay
and to the north Devon coast. The Council is committed to the
regeneration of the Seafront to turn it into a visitor destination
with economic and social benefits for the local community and wider
area.
A series of public and private developments have already taken
place including an adventure play area, aquasplash water park,
skate board park, lifeguard, lifeboat and coastguard stations,
landscaped car parking, café / ice cream parlour, housing
developments, a private nursing home and care home. The seafront
has also been the location of a number of major leisure
developments, including the 6 screen multiplex Apollo Cinema at
Hollywood Park, the Aquadome, one of Wales` premier theme pools,
and the Afan Lido, which has been the venue for a number of top
musical concerts.
Further phases of promenade enhancements have recently been
completed which has had a major impact on the seafront environment
in terms of enhancing its facilities and appearance. High quality
and innovative use of materials have been blended with a
sustainable approach and public art to produce a unique sense of
place. The scheme includes:
- An amphitheatre
- A seafront viewing bank, including a landmark sculpture
- New public toilets
- A piazza situated between the viewing bank and the
amphitheatre
- New promenade railings
- New footpaths, lighting, signage and street furniture
- Disabled access to beach
Public sector funding for the various regeneration projects has
come from a number of different sources, including the County
Borough Council, Welsh
Assembly Government, with assistance provided by the Wales Tourist Board and the
European Union`s Objective 1
programme.
Further improvements will be completed in 2007, including a new
20 lane ten pin bowling complex including a bar, small café and
children’s play area. Two artist designed seafront markers will
also be installed, adding interest and variety to the
promenade.
Baglan Energy Park
Baglan Energy Park is the first phase
development at Baglan Bay, a major development site covering some
500 ha of brownfield land adjacent to the M4. The site has become
available with the withdrawal of the old BP Chemicals plant.
Substantial reclamation of contaminated and derelict land on this
major inward investment site has enabled extensive development and
inward investment to take place. On Phase 1 of the Energy Park,
high standard manufacturing units have been constructed and the
Baglan Sustainable Technologies Technium has also been completed
(see Development Sites and Premises for further details). A large
paper mill has been constructed on Phase 2 of the Park.
Further developments are proposed on the Energy Park with the
construction of small manufacturing units on Phase 1 and new
council offices on Phase 2.
The Energy Park is being developed as a partnership between
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Welsh Assembly Government
and
BP Chemicals.
Environmental Schemes
The Environment Programme
More than 30 landscape schemes have been implemented under the
Environment Programme since the inception of Neath Port Talbot
County Borough Council in 1996. The programme is managed by the
Property and Regeneration Team and is funded under a partnership
arrangement between the Council and Welsh Assembly Government
(DEIN). Certain schemes have also had the benefit of funding
contributions from the EU, under its European Regional Development
Fund, and the Welsh Assembly Local Regeneration Fund.
The aim of this programme is to improve the physical environment
at strategic locations so as to enhance the area’s economic
prospects. Schemes implemented to date have concentrated on:
Strategic road
corridors:
- The A483 Jersey Marine dual carriageway between Neath and
Swansea
- Baglan section of the A48
- A465/A474 Neath Saltings Roundabout at the gateway to the town
centre
Further information on the Environment Programme can be obtained
by contacting Delyth Lewis on 01639 686410 or via e-mail on
d.a.lewis@npt.gov.uk.
Minewater Treatment Projects
Many of the physical scars left behind by the decline of the
coal industry have now been cleaned up with funding from the Welsh
Development Agency (now DEIN).
However, the visual impact of the highly polluting discharges
from some of the abandoned mines is a startling legacy of the coal
mining past. This is typically evident in the orange staining of
river courses. Minewater pollution is a common problem throughout
the coalfield regions of the world and presents far reaching
implications for the environment and aquatic life of those
areas.
Two major incidences of minewater pollution have occurred in the
Neath Port Talbot area since the closure of mines, at Pelenna and
Ynysarwed, where treatment schemes have been developed under the
lead of the Economic Development Team.
The village of Tonmawr grew alongside the coal industry, which
arrived in the valley in the 1850`s. By 1964 all mining activity in
the area had ceased. After the mines were abandoned, the rise in
water tables in the mines caused them to flood. By the 1990`s this
resulted in polluted water being discharged into local rivers,
causing significant environmental problems.
Through a partnership of the County Borough Council and the
Environment Agency, a treatment scheme was designed and implemented
in a series of phased works in the late 1990`s. Support funding for
the scheme came from the European Union and Welsh Development
Agency (now DEIN). The project used the technique of planted
wetlands to treat the pollution through a series of natural
processes. The European Union funding was provided on the basis
that the scheme would set the benchmark for adoption elsewhere in
Europe. The effectiveness of the method has since been applied as a
standard approach to the treatment of minewater pollution on an
international scale.
Long term monitoring and assessment of the pioneering project
have shown that the project has made a real impact in terms of
improving the quality of the environment within the area, together
with boosting the area’s regeneration and tourism potential.
Moves are now underway, under the facilitation of the
Regeneration Section, to procure consultants in order to identify
what further capital investment is needed to ensure that it stays
at the forefront of minewater treatment best practice in Europe and
continues to make a real difference to the area’s environmental and
economic fabric.
Further information e mail o.enoch@npt.gov.uk,
phone 01639 686411.
Restoration of Three Locks and Aqueduct - Neath Canal
The canal owners, Neath Canal Navigation, with support from the
council, are implementing restoration works on the Neath Canal.
Funding for the project has been secured under Objective 1 ERDF and
Neath Port Talbot’s Local Regeneration Fund.
The project will secure navigation of a 9km section of the Neath
Canal from Bridge Street in Neath town centre, to Abergarwed, south
of Resolven, in the Vale of Neath. To achieve this, a series of
component projects will be necessary:
The project will contribute to the economic regeneration of the
valley settlements in particular, through the canal becoming a
tourist and leisure attraction. As a result of the scheme the canal
will attract investment in commercial boat operations in the short
term, and commercial spin off through increased demand for
accommodation and other canal based facilities in future, such as
pubs and restaurants. All of these will result in the creation of
local employment and tourist spend in the area. It is anticipated
that the Aqueduct project will be completed in September 2007, with
the regeneration section project managing the appointed consultants
and contractors alongside the Canal Navigation Company.
This exciting element of the overall vision for the Canal
project has the potential to act as the springboard to the ongoing
regeneration drive within the area and has helped provide the
impetus for the Council to team up with DEIN in order to
investigate ways to commission a socio-economic cost benefit
analysis which will look at the long term economic advantages of re
opening the Neath and Tennant Canals thus ensuring an integrated
waterways partnership within the area.
For more on the above please e mail o.enoch@npt.gov.uk,
or phone 01639 686411.
The Accumulator Tower – Brunel Dock, Briton Ferry
Essential remedial works to one of Neath Port Talbot's most
prominent listed buildings will be completed in Spring 2007.
Under the lead of the
Regeneration Section, the Authority have appointed external
consultants to draw up a specification for the works, which include
undertaking structural and archaeological surveys and gaining
listed building consent before procuring contractors to deliver the
designs. The £70,000 scheme, funded by the Council and Neath Port
Talbot Environ Aid, is expected to be completed by spring 2007. The
works include a new roof, pointing work to the stonework, as well
as improvements to lighting and security.
As with any sustainable regeneration project, it has the backing
of the local community and, in particular, the Briton Ferry
Regeneration Group, which has a specific interest in preserving
local heritage features. It is hoped that the consolidation of the
tower will act as the catalyst to unlocking the wider regeneration
potential of the Brunel Dock area as well as continuing to stand
proudly as a testimony to the engineering genius of Brunel.
For more information on this project and the Brunel Dock please
email o.enoch@npt.gov.uk,
or phone 01639 686411.