Play centre plan at old showroom
Splash park & bowling included in proposal for former car sales site
A CHILDREN’S play centre in Llanelli has announced its plans for a huge new development in town.
The Play King, which has been operating in Dafen since 2011, has revealed its plans to relocate to the old CEM Days car showroom on Sandy Road.
The plans to occupy the 17,000sq ft area include both indoor and outdoor soft play facilities, a bowling alley, a sports court, indoor and outdoor gokarting, a sensory room and a splash park.
A CHILDREN’S play centre in Llanelli has announced its plans for a huge new development.
The Play King, which has been operating in Dafen since 2011, has revealed its plans to relocate to the old CEM Days car showroom on Sandy Road.
The plans to occupy the 17,000sq ft area include both indoor and outdoor soft play facilities, a bowling alley, a sports court, indoor and outdoor go-karting, a sensory room and a splash park.
The ambitious project also includes something for adults, with a themed diner, Costa cafe and a licensed American pool bar also planned for the area opposite the main Coleg Sir Gâr campus and adjacent to Festival Fields.
The Play King, on Dafen industrial estate, has become a popular location for children’s birthday parties and has hosted events with bigname reality TV stars since it opened in 2011.
The soft play site closed in March when the UK lockdown was announced and bosses have since been planning the new move. The aim is for the new centre to open its doors to new customers by October.
Posting to social media, The Play King said: “Firstly, we at The Play King would like to thank all of our customers for an incredible nine years of trading. We are thrilled to now be able to share with you our exciting plans. The move has already been completed and the fit-out of the exciting new premises is under way.”
The Play King Facebook page says the new site will boast six full-size, state-of-the-art bowling lanes, a themed indoor soft play with a range of multi-storey play equipment, indoor and outdoor go-karting, Llanelli’s first ever outdoor splash park, outdoor play frames designed by Rainbow Play Inc - a company that designed and installed The White House Gardens play frames, a themed diner, licensed American pool bar, Costa Coffee cafe, a football/sports court, an indoor sensory room, two dedicated party rooms with new projection mapping technology to make every party unique, hand car valet service to have your car cleaned, inside and out, while you enjoy the facilities, and more than 200 car parking spaces.
A pre-planning application has been submitted to Carmarthenshire Council.
Some locals have welcomed the development in the area because of potential new tourism, trade and employment opportunities. But others have expressed concerns over traffic in the alreadycongested area of Sandy Road and the western gateway to Llanelli. Drivers have regularly branded the route from Llanelli to Burry Port a ‘nightmare’ and there are fears of more traffic congestion and pollution.
The flip side is that The Play King’s peak operating times will not be the same as standard working hours.
The bowling lanes could be the first seen in Llanelli since the old Glen Ballroom bowling alley in the town centre closed.
Meanwhile, Llanelli has been promised a new leisure centre by Carmarthenshire Council. Work on the nearby Llanelli Wellness Village was due to start at the end of the summer but has been postponed.
The new development is to include a wellness hub featuring a new leisure centre and swimming pool, community health hub, a range of assisted living accommodation and sports facilities.