£500M Swansea city centre regeneration bid approved

Swansea Council approval marks significant step for Swansea £500M city centre regeneration scheme.

There has been a significant move forward for the first phase of Swansea’s £500M city centre regeneration scheme, with the council approving the plan on Tuesday.

The scheme includes turning St David’s Shopping Centre site into a retail and cafe area with a boutique cinema.

There are also plans for offices and housing on the St David’s site, which has already been demolished.

On the other side of Oystermouth Road, a 3,500-seat arena would go on the existing car park next to the LC leisure centre, along with a 13-storey residential block or hotel.

The two sites would be linked by a footbridge, and both would have multi-storey parking.

The area has been identified as the “highest priority for redevelopment in the city centre”.

Martin Nicholls, Director of Place at Swansea Council, said the approval of the plans was a “major step forward” for the regeneration of the city centre.

He said: “This approval means we can now especially push on with our plans for the site that’s south of Oystermouth Road, which will form the first phase of the overall development.”

While the project has been largely welcomed, Tesco, Swansea Market traders and the leisure centre have raised concerns over road safety, fears of becoming isolated and loss of light, respectively.

Once plans are finalised, the scheme will need planning permission.

Work is estimated to start on the southern site by summer 2018.

The second phase involves demolishing the civic centre and creating a city beach which would also include an aquarium and digital science centre.

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