The huge projects that cost millions but never happened...
The Circuit of Wales hasn’t been the only project which has failed to take off in Wales. Ruth Mosalski reports
THE Circuit of Wales isn’t the first project billed as a potential saviour for the Welsh economy.
In the wake of the Welsh Government’s decision not to back the £433m racetrack in Ebbw Vale, we’ve looked back at some of the other giant projects that never quite happened.
As you’ll see, Wales has seen more than it’s fair share of false dawns – here are some of the other projects which weren’t to be.
Legend Court A Disneyland-style theme park just off the M4 sounded fantastic to some, but it wasn’t to be.
The gigantic theme park was planned for an 800-acre piece of land at Magor, near Newport, and it would have been built around the ruins of Pencoed Castle.
Those behind it claimed it would have attracted three million visitors a year and created 4,000 jobs.
Both the Welsh Development Agency and the Wales Tourist Board gave it their support.
Campaigners, who battled against it for almost two years, however said it would have resulted in the loss of land and damage to the environment.
Afterwards, Legend Court development director John Hartnell said they had spent two years and £3m exploring the Magor site.
A SuperTed themepark In 1984, there was talk of a £200m SuperTed theme park being built in south Wales.
Councils and private landowners have flooded SuperTed creator Mike Young with offers of sites.
At the time, Mr Young said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with the amazing response to the idea. I’ve been most impressed with the marketing skills of local councils.” In all, 17 sites were offered – six in Gwent, five in the then South Glamorgan, three in Mid Glamorgan and three in West Glamorgan, most within easy access to the M4.
Mr Young announced the appointment of the first experts to oversee the development of the planned 300acre project.
But alas, it wasn’t to be.
Cardiff Bay’s ‘New York’ skyline Billed as Cardiff’s New York skyline, the 2,400-flat Bay Pointe development would have given Wales a new 41-storey tallest building and two other skyscrapers.
Costing an estimated half a billion pounds, the huge money-generating vision underpinned the initial projections for Cardiff Bay’s International Sports village.
When the scheme fell apart during the recession, to be a replaced by the more modest plans for town houses and flats now known as Cardiff Pointe, many of the plans for the area had to be redrawn.
Alongside the 2,400 flats, there had been talk of musical fountains like those seen in Las Vegas and much more.
But then not everyone shed tears. One former city council leader had warned that the flats were destined to become the slums of the future if they were built.
Severnside Airport In 2013, proposals for a new £5bn airport which would have been the size of Gatwick were put forward. Both Cardiff and Bristol would have had to be sold for the new Severnside Airport to go ahead.
It would include a 4,000m main runway with road links to the M4, sea links and rail links to the main London-Wales mainline.
One thousand people would be employed, while there is also potential for 10,000 support jobs, the proposals say.
It was for a Severn Estuary airport between Chepstow and Newport. Severn24 would have been a tworunway hub.
At the time it was reported the construction would take between five and eight years.
But, in a document published by the Airports Commission it was said: “Whilst providing capacity to serve the South West of England and the south of Wales, it is not clear that this proposal would add significantly to overall national capacity, given the almost certain operational and commercial need for Cardiff and Bristol airports to close, therefore the additional benefit may be small against the proposed cost.”
It wasn’t the first time such a scheme had been proposed. They had come forward in the 1980s and 1995 for land at Redwick, near Caldicot.
In 2003, the idea of a new Severnside Airport was dismissed by the Future of Air Transport White Paper.
It was said it would struggle to attract sufficient traffic.
Swansea’s ‘Bullring’ Around 10 years ago, Swansea council brought in the developers of Birmingham’s Bullring to develop a £1bn transformation of the city centre .
Two of Europe’s leading developers, Hammerson and Urban Splash, drew up plans for a shopping complex, 1,000 apartments, offices, a high class hotel and a major conference centre.
There would have been a high quality European style boulevard along Oystermouth Road.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be. But Swansea today is looking forward to a different vision for the city centre.
Severn Barrage Building a barrage to support a tidal power scheme in the Severn Estuary has been touted for years.
The scheme which was got the furthest was in late 2007 when a feasibility study was announced. The plans were for a 10-mile barrage across the Severn estuary to generate renewable electricity from the tides.
The 10-mile long tidal barrage would have been built between Lavernock Point near Cardiff, to Brean Down near Weston-super-Mare.
The study, initially led by John Hutton and then Ed Miliband was to gather and assess evidence to enable the UK Government to decide whether it should go ahead.
There was a public consultation but in September 2010 the UK Government ruled out giving public funding to the plans and the following month the project was scrapped.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said the £30bn scheme’s costs were “excessive”.
The following year there were further plans for a project via a private sector consortium, but that too was abandoned.
LG in Newport In 1996, electronics firm LG announced it was creating a factory in Newport. Prime Minister John Major proclaimed the South Korean firm’s decision as a “vote of confi-