Planners to get say soon on city’s £500m revamp
APLANNING application to transform the St David’s site in Swansea into a retail and visitor destination is imminent, council leader Rob Stewart has said.
The outline application, once published, will be considered by the authority’s planning committee as soon as possible.
Cabinet members will be updated on the £500m-plus city centre regeneration plans tomorrow – with a warning that Swansea continues to decline as a retail venue.
Wales’ second city, said the report, is losing £158m per year due to shoppers going elsewhere.
It said Swansea was the second biggest faller of 100 UK towns and cities last year in a league table by retail consultants Javelin Group. In contrast, Cardiff and Carmarthen have an improved retail landscape while Newport – with Friars Walk now open – shot 59 places up the table.
“So simply doing nothing is not an option as Swansea’s decline will inevitably continue,” said the report.
While the retail picture in Swansea is by no means all doom and gloom, the report said the council had to take steps to “de-risk” large-scale regeneration projects to cement private sector investment.
The key projects on the table at present are:
The St David’s redevelopment, known as Swansea Central, to comprise an indoor arena, car park and hotel on the south of Oystermouth Road, and 20 retail units, eight to 10 restaurants, a boutique cinema, flats, a multi-storey car park and a Swansea University library on the other side of the road.
The Civic Centre redevelopment to create 500 homes, six to eight restaurants, a public square, a tourist attraction such as an aquarium, and parking.
The Kingsway redevelopment to build a large office block at the Oceana site, and a linked initiative to simplify the road network and relandscape the busy thoroughfare.
The Mail understands that three companies are in the running to manage the indoor arena, with a decision likely around May, while agreements will be sought with retailers for the commercial units.
Asked what the next steps were, Mr Stewart said: “I expect a planning application for the St David’s site will be considered shortly.”
He said planning applications for The Kingsway and Civic Centre sites could be submitted in the summer, with work starting at The Kingsway as soon as possible after that.
He added: “Hopefully we will be starting with the arena in the early part of 2018 or late this year.”
The plan is for the council to own the new buildings which materialise as part of these projects as this would provide revenue from occupiers, but there are borrowing implications to be considered for their construction.
However, the proposed city deal for the Swansea Bay City Region should, if signed off, provide a financing option for the indoor arena and hotel.
The council has spent just over £1.5m on the regeneration projects so far, and the cabinet report stated that a further £7.9m will be needed for further studies and then tendering to the market.
The Welsh Government is offering a £6.2m interest-free loan to help the council progress with the projects and, according to Mr Stewart, has agreed in principle to allow the council to keep business rates from any new buildings for 20 years.
Cabinet will be asked to fund an overarching assessment to underpin any decisions to invest capital spending in the projects, and also to agree sufficient capital and revenue funding in principle to deliver the projects.
The report said “these projects are entirely deliverable” based on progress to date and advice from development partners, but that the council must have “the appetite to commit”.
Mr Stewart said: “Either we continue to decline or we do something about it.”