Seaside town named as ‘sought after spot to buy' set for major revamp with £20m ‘innovation centre' investment approved
A POPULAR seaside town is set for a major revamp with a £20million investment approved.
The South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub, or for short SWITCH building, has been approved by Neath Port Talbot council.
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Swansea University Academics will use the £20million site to investigate how to decarbonise the metal and steel industry that dominated Wales' economy for decades.
It will be built on a brownfield parcel of land near Port Talbot Dock, due to the 'excellent infrastructure links' nearby, such as the Port Talbot Parkway station and the M4 motorway.
The plans include facilities from workshops and welding zones to mechanical testing zones and labs.
Workers will also be catered for with offices and 'breakout' spaces planned for staff.
The council hopes the plans will provide a 'collaborative innovation centre' and serve as the basis for cooperation between academics and the industry.
The plans read: "The new facility is a collaborative innovation centre working with academia, namely Swansea University, as a key stakeholder to help end users from the steel industry to decarbonise the steel industry towards a net-zero carbon future.
"The core theme of the SWITCH (South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub) programme is to assist decarbonisation of the steel and metals industry, to strengthen collaboration between industry and academia and to future-proof the steel and metals industry in Wales and the UK.
The project will be led by the council in partnership with nearby Swansea University.
The proposal may save the day, as it was received last November, just months after the closure of Port Talbot's steelworks site, which cost the area over 2,000 jobs.
It also came just weeks after a submission by Tata Steel for a new £1.25bn electric arc furnace nearby.
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