Burry Port Masterplan set to transform town

THE transformation of Burry Port is underway and already a number of exciting developments are being delivered, with more in the pipeline.

Burry Port Harbour is situated within 14 miles of landscaped parkland, with stunning views of the Gower Peninsula and Carmarthen Bay, providing an ideal base for exploring the South and West Wales coastline, and one of Carmarthenshire’s strategic regeneration areas.

The regeneration of Burry Port Harbour is a major project supported by the Llanelli Waterside Joint Venture between Carmarthenshire County Council and Welsh Government. Investment has already been made in infrastructure and transport to make the area more accessible and to strengthen the link between the Millennium Coastal Path and town centre.

The masterplan of the area provides diverse development opportunities for commercial, retail, leisure and tourism, alongside new residential units. Recent and future developments opportunities include:

Ysgol Parc y Tywyn
The new Ysgol Parc y Tywyn has recently been completed, with the new site being idyllically situated, near to the harbour and within close proximity to the town centre. Pupils have moved into the £9.6million state-of-the-art school, which provides spacious and inspiring places to learn, in a high-tech environment.

The Welsh medium primary school has been built to the highest energy efficiency standards, providing Passivhaus and BREEAM Excellent status. The new school has been delivered through Carmarthenshire County Council’s Modernising Education Programme and jointly funded by the Welsh Government.

Glanmor Terrace Development Site
Planning permission has recently been granted for 32 eco-friendly homes, following a £4million funding package secured by Cartrefi Croeso, Carmarthenshire County Council’s new housing company.

The Welsh Government included the ambitious Burry Port Garden Village development in its £43million Innovative Housing Programme grant and the proposed scheme will provide a mix of homes, including apartments and bungalows on land next to the existing Plas Y Mor Extra Care Scheme in the town.

Exciting designs have been drawn up with environmentally-friendly features including solar panels and Welsh timber, both sourced and manufactured locally, that will help residents save up to £1,000 a year on energy bills. The homes will be designed to encourage low energy life styles, improve health and well-being and mitigate fuel poverty.

Residential Site
Carmarthenshire County Council has purchased, on a subject to planning basis, the 7.26 acre Grillo site at Burry Port, adjacent to the Llanelli Waterside Joint Venture’s current land holding, to provide a 15.25 acre residential development site at the centre of the harbour area.

The acquisition of the land will enable the council to facilitate the regeneration of this brownfield site to provide up to 364 residential dwellings and 465 sq m (5,005 sq ft) of retail and leisure use within a prime waterfront location, further enhancing and complementing the offering at Burry Port Harbour.

New RNLI Building
The new Lifeboat Station has just been completed and offers major improvements for the RNLI crew and members of the public. The building, which has been equipped with solar panels and ground source heating, will now house the two lifeboats in the same building. The facility provides specific operations control room, crew room, changing rooms, office space and a training room for use by crew members and for educational talks with visiting school pupils.

Included in the building is a permanent RNLI shop, which will also be enhanced as a visitor experience area, with touch screen facilities and displays. In addition to this, a viewing gallery on the first floor will enable visitors to safely view the lifeboats and launches.

Marina
Burry Port Marina offers 450 berths, enabling year-round cruising along the beautiful coastline. The marina is managed by The Marine Group and as part of the wider masterplan for the harbour, further plans are in place to upgrade the marina including:

Capital investment in boat lifting equipment
Rolling dredging programme
Upgrade works to facilities
The addition of diesel fuelling facilities
Maintenance and upgrade of pontoons
In addition to this, and subject to planning permission, plans include a new marina office, shower/toilet facilities and cafe/restaurant within the former RNLI building.

Further details can be found via The Marine Group’s website.

Enterprise Village
The site will provide 10,500 sq m of employment space with an element of live work units and possible marine related uses to support and promote harbour activity.

On The Market
The commercial leisure development site and food store site within Burry Port are currently being marketed by the Llanelli Waterside Joint Venture with Expressions of Interest being sought from developers and end occupiers:

Commercial leisure site
The site offers 2.8 acres of land for a mixed use development scheme incorporating circa 5,000 sq m (54,000 sq ft) of retail, hotel, pub/restaurant and residential uses. The land is strategically located in the centre of Burry Port Harbour and will create an active frontage across the marina.

More information on commercial leisure site

Food store site
The site provides 3.8 acres of land for a large food store operator. The site is located within close proximity to the town centre and benefits from good public transport and road links.

The most recent survey, carried out by Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners, as part of their Retail Study 2015, showed that only 2.2% of households living in the Burry Port / Kidwelly area use a store in Burry Port for their main food and grocery shopping. In addition to this, 19.8% use a store in Burry Port for ‘top-up’ basket shopping, indicating that there is a requirement for a larger food store operator within the Burry Port area.