CARMARTHEN WEST LINK ROAD

Advance funding for the Carmarthen West Link Road will be provided by Carmarthenshire County Council.

Yesterday’s meeting of the full Council agreed to pre-fund the Link Road within the Carmarthen West development and if necessary use compulsory purchase powers to secure the land required.

The decision followed an Executive Board recommendation and is subject to the money being recovered from the developers as the development proceeds.

Carmarthen West is identified as a Strategic Site within the council’s adopted Local Development Plan and is allocated for mixed use development.

The Planning and Development Brief for the site sets guidance for the delivery of 1,100 houses, the largest housing scheme in Carmarthenshire’s local development plan, together with a new link road, primary school, employment space, a small retail centre, open space and affordable housing.

The Carmarthen Western Link Road forms a key element of the development and will link 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.

Executive board member for resources Cllr David Jenkins said: “County Council was very supportive of the need to ensure that this development proceeds as soon as possible.  We are also very grateful to the Welsh Government and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David for their support. Early construction of the road will help to maximise the community benefit from the development and, subject to land acquisitions, will ensure delivery before the proposed S4C development.”

Council also agreed to a number of safeguards to ensure that the funding was recovered and construction of the road would only start once these conditions have been met.