The Welsh Government is investing £8.5 million in new industrial space in Blaenau Gwent aimed at attracting businesses to the area, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has announced.
A 50,000 sq ft industrial unit will be built at Rhyd y Blew, Ebbw Vale, in the Tech Valleys area.
The modern building will form the first phase of a wider site masterplan, and help satisfy huge demand for such industrial space in the South East Wales area. An automotive engineering company specialising in engines and electronics and food sector business have already expressed an interest in the development, which also sits within the Ebbw Vale Enterprise Zone.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said, “The Welsh Government is committed to creating a fairer, greener and more prosperous Wales. A key part of that is sharing prosperity more equally with better jobs closer to home.
“Our support for this investment ready unit on a strategic industrial site is a clear example of us delivering on that ambition. We will continue to drive and support more high quality employment opportunities and skills development for local communities.
“We are exploring every opportunity to support the growth of our economy as we continue to rebound post-pandemic. The development of these new premises will compliment the huge Welsh Government investment in the dualling of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road.”
Welsh Government announced a £100M technology park in the Heads of Valleys area straddling the A465 road after it rejected the £433M Circuit of Wales development five years ago and TVR were supposed to be building a car assembly plant in nearby Rassau, but that private scheme is believed to have run into funding difficulties and no start date has been given for the project to build a new high performance sports car there (shown below).
The Welsh Government said they are still discussing the leasing of a factory to TVR after spending £4.75M buying a disused factory and hoped to conclude the agreement in the near future.
Residents say they have been promised investment and jobs over successive years but nothing has come apart from press releases about projects which never materialise, they have said.
The Welsh Public Accounts Committee has criticised senior civil servants in Wales for their botched handling of major investments in the area and poor reporting of developments while the senior official dealing with the Circuit of Wales investment of £200M from Government, James Price, was moved sideways to head up Transport for Wales overseeing the £5 Billion Metro project for improved rail and public transport in South Wales and which has also been criticised for its performance.
