CITY DEAL WOULD BRING HUGE BENEFITS TO CARMARTHENSHIRE

If the City Deal was approved it would have huge benefits for Carmarthenshire, leading councillors said today.

The £500million bid to the Chancellor George Osborne by the Swansea Bay City Region aims to help transform the economy in the area.

It includes creating an internet coast through a fibre-optic transatlantic cable from New York to Oxwich Bay, to drive forward digital energy, technology and healthcare.

It would bring ultrafast broadband to the region benefitting businesses, particularly those in the technology or creative industries.

In Carmarthenshire, it would also support three key projects – the Wellness and Life Science Village in Llanelli; Yr Egin in Carmarthen; and the Cross Hands East strategic employment site.

Council Leader Cllr Emlyn Dole said: “All these projects will bring enormous benefits to Carmarthenshire, and the City Deal bid, if approved, will help deliver these and more.

“We have the ambition and the vision, by working together through the Swansea Bay City Region we can provide the jobs and regeneration that is our priority for our county.”

The Wellness and Life Science Village, estimated to cost around £100million, is planned for Delta Lakes, it is being led by Carmarthenshire County Council, and delivered through the ARCH health project.

Work has now begun on the detail of what could be included at the site, such as a state-of-the-art wellness/leisure centre, hydrotherapy pool, Institute of Life Science@ Hywel Dda, expansion of the Joint Clinical Research Facility to recruit for clinical trials, a Health & Wellbeing Centre as well as hotel and conferencing, and high spec business facilities.

Yr Egin is a purpose-built complex which will be S4C’s new home in Carmarthen. It will create around 150 jobs and help the local economy, along with boosting the Welsh language.

A new Carmarthen West link road is being built by the county council to help facilitate the new development, which will also include 1,100 houses, a primary school, employment space, a small retail centre, open space and affordable housing.

The Cross Hands East Strategic Employment Site covers 19 hectares with building floor space of 40,000sqm, which is able to accommodate 1,244 jobs.

Regeneration Executive Board Member and Swansea Bay City Region Vice Chair Cllr Meryl Gravell added: “The exciting plans for the broadband infrastructure could see us lead the way in Wales, indeed the UK, in delivering an energy source that would bring huge dividends to businesses and the whole region.”