Author: Rhys Gregory

Swansea Building Society has expanded its head office at 11/12 Cradock Street, Swansea, with the acquisition of the adjoining property – number 13. The refurbishment of the adjoining property is set to take approximately 10 weeks, with a move-in date scheduled for the end of January 2023. The acquisition has been made to help accommodate the Society’s growing workforce, which has grown by 10 percent over the past year. Extensive work is now required on the new property, with a full refurbishment, new windows, and a new roof needed before it can comfortably accommodate the Society’s additional staff. The move…

A research centre focussing on the transport challenges facing society has been officially launched at Aberystwyth University this week (Thursday 1 December 2022) by the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters MS. The Centre for Transport and Mobility (CeTraM) brings together researchers from across the University to explore solutions to local, national and global transport issues. The aim is to inform policies and practices which shape the way people and goods move from place to place, and investigate systems which are more sustainable, equitable and accessible. The new research centre will look at the role of new…

The freehold of a B&M Bargains store in Lydney near Chepstow is for sale at auction on December 15th with a guide price of £2.85m. The 14,670-sq ft was formerly a Co-Op supermarket and is leased to the Co-Operative Group at an annual rent of £214,251. The lease, which expires in April 2035, has annual RPI-linked rent reviews with a rental cap (4%) and collar (2%) increases. The property is sublet to B&M and has 100 parking spaces. David Margolis of auctioneer, Acuitus, comments: “Supermarket assets are popular with investors especially when they offer sustainable income from RPI-linked leases. ”…

Bridgend County Borough could become the future home of tennis excellence in Wales after planning permission was granted for an all-new national tennis academy. The council’s Development Control committee has agreed to provide planning permission for the multi-million pound Community Indoor Tennis Centre project, which features nine indoor and six outdoor tennis courts, associated seating and viewing decks, a swimming pool and gym, accommodation wings, offices for Tennis Wales and more. The new centre, which will be extensively landscaped, will be built at a site near Island Farm with both a new access route from the adjacent Science Park and…

Bridgend County Borough Council welcomes the Cabinet’s decision to allow the extension of the Frog Pond Wood Local Nature Reserve to go ahead. The nature reserve, based near the Village Farm Industrial Estate in Pyle, has already been extended to include land known as ‘Village Farm Meadow’. Adjacent to this is another plot that has been naturally colonized over the course of thirty years and has developed into a mixed woodland. This organic process gives the land significant ecological value, as well as adds to the ecological resilience of the Frog Pond Wood Local Nature Reserve within the surrounding landscape.…

Volunteers have again come forward to offer their time and services to spread some festive cheer to people in need at a very special Christmas event in Swansea. On Tuesday (Dec 6) JR Events and Catering, with support from Swansea Council, is throwing open the doors of the Brangwyn Hall to dish up a free two-course Christmas dinner for people who are vulnerable, feel isolated or may be homeless. Lasting from noon until 3pm, the Together at Christmas event will also see representatives from a range of services and charities providing information and help on the day. A pop-up foodbank…

A proposal to replace three Swansea Valley primary schools with a new build £22m school for three to eleven-year-olds in Pontardawe is to go back out to public consultation. Last year, members of Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet approved the new school plan plus a new six-lane swimming pool and specialist learning support centre on a site at Parc Ynysderw, Pontardawe. But the wish by the council’s new Rainbow Coalition administration to review the decision and a successful legal challenge against it in relation to a Welsh Language Impact Assessment by parent group Rhieni Dros Addysg Gymraeg (RhAG) led to…

Refurbishment of the bandstand at Ynysangharad War Memorial Park will now focus on the surrounding fenced area for audiences. The bandstand area will be brought out of use on a temporary basis to ensure safe progress. Ongoing work to the bandstand is a key part of a wider project to rejuvenate the Grade II Listed park’s heritage features, made possible thanks to a £1.9m investment via the National Lottery Heritage Fund and contributions from the Council and Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns initiative. Contractor GKR Maintenance & Building Co. is progressing the project, which also includes the refurbishment of the sunken…

After a rollercoaster year of early morning swims in all weathers, family fun in the sun, and exciting new cold water sessions, Lido Ponty is wrapping up 2022 the traditional way – with a Boxing Day Swim. Tickets go on sale 9am on Monday, December 5, for the much-loved event, which offers a festive swim in the heated pools. Following the cold water swim trial, where water temperature dropped to 15 degrees, you’ll be pleased to know pool temperatures will rise back to 28 degrees for Boxing Day. Or, why not start 2023 as you mean to carry on with…

Newport City Council has received an award for its work to ensure Newport Market remains at the heart of the city centre. The project has topped the entries in the creating economic growth category at the Ystadau Cymru Awards 2022. Ystadau Cymru (formerly known as the national assets working group) encourages excellence in active management of the Welsh public sector estate through strategic collaboration and good practice guidance. The creating economic growth category seeks to recognise projects that, through collaboration, have created economic growth using the public estate. Councillor Jane Mudd, Leader of the council, said: “It is more important…