Multi-million pound investments in Burry Port Harbour, a school in Llanelli and a care home in the Gwendraeth Valley feature in Carmarthenshire Council’s latest capital spending plans.
The £176 million investment would be over five years, assuming the proposals are agreed by full council at a meeting next month. Capital budgets are different from revenue – or day-to-day – spending ones. You can read about the revenue budget plans, including what next year’s council tax increase might be, here.
Nearly £92 million of the £176 million is allocated for 2025-26 – the first year of the programme. The five-year plans include a £2 million investment in Burry Port Harbour, whose previous operator went into administration. The council said last November that talks were taking place with a potential new operator, Milford Haven Port Authority. The £2 million would be spent in 2025-26 and 2026-27.
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Meanwhile £8 million is allocated to ongoing extension work at Ysgol Bryngwyn, Llanelli, with the majority to be spent in 2025-26. Nearly £20 million is for a new council residential care and nursing home in Cwmgwili, between Cross Hands and Ammanford, with a third of the sum allocated in 2025-26 and two-thirds the following year. And a £16.7 million investment in cleaner refuse vehicles, many of which will be battery-powered, is planned next year. For the latest Carmarthenshire news, sign up to our newsletter here
Budget papers show a £62 million investment in new and upgraded schools over five years, including the Ysgol Bryngwyn extension. Council leader Darren Price told a cabinet meeting on January 13 that this would include investment following a review into special needs education in the Llanelli area. The review got under way after the council decided not to go ahead with a planned replacement Ysgol Heol Goffa due to soaring costs. “Schools are absolutely pivotal to us as a cabinet,” said Cllr Price.
Rising construction costs are an issue for all local authorities, and Cllr Alun Lenny, cabinet member for resources, said this meant the council’s capital spending ambitions were not “as ambitious or wide-ranging as we would like”.
The budget report said the long-awaited Towy Valley cycle path between Llandeilo and Carmarthen was due to open “in the spring/summer of 2025” and that work to agree an £18 million project to boost Llanelli town centre was continuing with the UK Government. It added that options to improve Ammanford town centre were also being examined. Nearly £1.7 million is earmarked for highway work, road drainage, bridges and street lighting next year, as is a £725,000 investment in council-owned farms.
The £176 million over five years would be funded mainly by the council (£102 million), with most of the remainder from external sources. A small portion – £2.2 million – is unfunded at present. The report also said some projects being funded this financial year were behind schedule. The estimated “slippage”, as it is known, is estimated at £38 million.