New £50 million project to regenerate Swansea’s High Street

A NEW £50 million development will soon help regenerate one of the key gateways in and out of Swansea city centre.

Approximately 700 student flats above a ground floor complex of shops, a restaurant and a café make up a development that’s planned for the Mariner Street car park opposite High Street railway station.

The major project will improve the look and feel of High Street, boost city centre businesses, generate more vibrancy and help attract even more investment in future. The High Street multi-storey car park nearby currently operates at about 50% capacity, so the option to accommodate the extra cars the scheme will generate is being explored there.

Swansea Council is selling its portion of the Mariner Street site to a development company called RDE Silex to facilitate the scheme. Agreement with two private landowners has also been reached, as well as with Network Rail, who have agreed to relocate to the top deck of the High Street multi-storey car park.

A planning application for the scheme, which has the support of the Design Commission for Wales, could be submitted next month.

The council says an appropriate travel plan will be a condition of any planning approval.

Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said: “We recognise the importance of High Street because it’s a key gateway in and out of the city centre that gives many people their first impressions of Swansea when they step off the train. This project will be a major step forward for the area’s regeneration, building on all the great work that’s already been done on High Street by the Coastal Housing Group’s urban village scheme.

“The planned development won’t just improve the look and feel of the area – it will also boost city centre shops, restaurants, pubs and other businesses because that’s where the hundreds of students living there will be spending their money.

“Our city centre redevelopment plans aren’t just about the pedestrianised area, the St David’s site, the Kingsway and the Civic Centre. This scheme shows how committed we are to ensuring the city centre as a whole benefits from regeneration. This is important, not just to give the people of Swansea the kind of top quality city centre they deserve, but also to reinforce the city centre’s role as a key driver of the Swansea Bay City Region economy.

“An appropriate travel plan will be a condition of any planning approval.”

It’s envisaged the car parking spaces currently in place at Mariner Street will be also absorbed into the under-used High Street multi-storey car park too.

The developer has also agreed to fund further signage and visual improvement works at the multi-storey car park to follow on from the council’s recent introduction of a new lighting system there. Match funding would be provided to secure additional grants for cycle link, pavement and public space improvements in the area as well.

If planning consent is granted, construction could start this autumn, with completion being earmarked for the summer of 2018.