Author: Rhys Gregory

Palace Theatre and Hafod-Morfa Copperworks were on the itinerary when Welsh Government Economy Minister Vaughan Gething visited Swansea to see first-hand the scale of regeneration on-going in the city. During his visit to Swansea on Tuesday March 15, Mr Gething also visited the 71/72 Kingsway construction site and the Swansea Arena development. All four projects are part of a £1bn regeneration programme that’s now unfolding in Swansea. A 134-year-old grade two listed building on the city’s High Street, plans are in place to transform Palace Theatre into a home for tech, start-up and creative businesses. Swansea Council has appointed Tramshed…

Work has completed on the new school building for Pencoedtre High School in Barry, Wales. Designed by HLM and built by Bouygues UK, the project forms part of a £34.7 million investment into the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, a long-term strategic investment in schools and colleges throughout Wales developed by the Vale Council and Welsh Government. Built over a two-year construction period, the new school provides modern facilities catering for up to 1,100 pupils, including sixth form students, with additional amenities to accommodate pupils with enhanced learning needs. The school includes two three-storey teaching wings, connected by wide corridors…

The charity Crimestoppers have launched a new appeal for anonymous information to urgently find a car and two men linked to the murder of Tomasz Waga in Cardiff. The reward of up to £10,000 will be available to anyone providing information exclusively to Crimestoppers leading to the recovery of a Mercedes, and the arrest of Artan Pallucci, 29, last known address Cathays, Cardiff, and Elidon Elezi, 22, last known address East Finchley, London. 23-year-old Tomasz’ body was found by a member of the public in Westville Road, Penylan, late on Thursday, 28 January, 2021. He had been assaulted and died from his…

The Welsh Government has been warned that some businesses across Wales could be forced to close as an unintended consequence of proposed radical new taxation rules which are planned to be introduced next year. MWT Cymru, which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia, has surveyed self-catering businesses across Wales to discover how they will be impacted by proposed taxation rules, which are linked to the ownership of second homes. From April next year, Welsh county councils will be given the power to increase council tax on second homes to 300%. In addition,…

A celebration to mark an historic engineering achievement took place at the Cardiff Bay railway station today to mark the centenary of the end of the famous Welsh railway company – the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) – and the restoration of one of its most historic buildings, the terminus. To celebrate the history of the station and to mark the hundredth anniversary since the end of the TVR in March 1922 – when it became part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) – a plaque has been unveiled on the building.     Ken Evans, Chair ICE Wales Cymru was joined by…

The Football Association of Wales is pleased to announce that in a show of support to our friends in Ukraine, Cymru will play an international challenge match on Tuesday, 29 March (KO 7.45pm) at Cardiff City Stadium to raise funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Cymru’s opponent for the match will be determined depending on the outcome of the World Cup play-off semi-final with Austria on 24 March. Should Cymru win against Austria, they will play the losing team from the Path B semi-final between Sweden and Czech Republic. If Cymru fail to win against Austria,…

Timber frame construction specialist, SO Modular, has completed work on an innovative housing development with contractor Capsel and Monmouthshire Housing Association (MHA), to build 17 new homes across two derelict ex-garage sites in Pembroke Road and Western Avenue, Chepstow. Both sites comprise of two housing types: a terraced mews style house with a patio area, and an interlocking courtyard bungalow. The innovative design concepts aim to address the specific housing ‘wants and needs’ of two definitive demographics: younger first-time buyers and older people wanting to downsize. The low-carbon homes have been developed using £3.1m of funding by the Welsh Government’s…

Work is underway on installing a new all-weather pitch and improved floodlighting at a popular community centre in Townhill. Swansea Council has committed to investing up to £300,000 in the facility at the Phoenix Centre. The old pitch was laid around 20 years ago and was well used by the community including local sporting clubs and school teams so it is now in need of replacing. The council is funding a replacement surface, new fencing, netting and energy efficient state-of-the-art LED floodlighting from its Swansea Economic Recovery Fund. Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, Robert Francis-Davies, said: “I’m really…

Plans to create a new multi-million pound campus for Bridgend College at the heart of Bridgend town centre have moved a step closer. The college has submitted pre-application planning proposals to Bridgend County Borough Council outlining how it wants to develop an all-new learning and skills campus at Cheapside. This would involve constructing brand new premises using land currently occupied by the town centre police station, which has already been purchased by the council for this purpose, and a nearby former multi-storey car park which closed in April 2021 due to serious structural faults. With police activities at the site…

The consortium behind the new arena for Cardiff today welcomed the decision by the Planning Committee to approve the plans for Phase One of Atlantic Wharf, Butetown. Phase One of the multi-million-pound regeneration of Atlantic Wharf comprises the new 17,000-capacity arena, hotel and associated landscaping. The consortium, who are the Council’s chosen delivery partners will now proceed with making the vision for the Arena a reality.  With Robertson Group as developers and Live Nation and Oak View Group as joint operators, the arena will offer Cardiff the opportunity to host some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry whilst…