£500m project will transform BP-Amoco site at Llandarcy, Wales
Lisa Pilkington
A disused oil refinery in south-west Wales is to be transformed into a £500m urban village.
The scheme, at Llandarcy, is claimed to be the largest such project undertaken anywhere in the world. It is being carried out by a public/private sector partnership involving the Welsh Development Agency, BP Amoco, Neath Port Talbot council and The Prince’s Foundation.
Sir David Rowe-Beddoe, chairman of the WDA, said: “It’ll be one of the largest new sustainable development projects undertaken in the UK, and will pave the way for a major expansion of employment opportunities. The scale of the project is enormous, certainly the largest and most important ever undertaken in Wales.”
Plans include the decommissioning and redevelopment of the former BP-Amoco oil refinery site, situated at the junction of the Heads of the Valleys road and the M4.
The site covers 550ha (1,359 acres). A further 101ha (250 acres) of surrounding land could also be used for redevelopment.
The plan is to create a sustainable and integrated community with up to 1,800 homes and associated commercial and retail development being built over a 15-year period, creating around 2,000 jobs.
Llandarcy has already been selected as one of 10 sites in the UK to receive Objective 1 funding for poor areas, and the partners said that the long-term venture could attract up to £500m of investment over a 20-year period.
A draft masterplan will be drawn up by September, after which a public consultation process will take place.
