Seaside town named as ‘sought after spot to buy' set for major revamp with £20m ‘innovation centre' investment approved
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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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The local economy has suffered repeated set backs as its traditional industries falter
Credit: Neath Port Talbot Council)
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Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales closed last year, causing 2,000 job losses
Credit: Alamy
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The famously smoky industrial town is going green
Credit: Alamy
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.
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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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Tata Steel has also proposed a £1.25bn furnace nearby
Credit: Getty
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One of the world's biggest steelworks shut down in 2023
Credit: Alamy
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The Irish Sun
21 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
I left frantic UK life to buy 85p home in sunny paradise – now I'm building property empire for cost of two pints
AFTER years of enduring the rat race as a jewellery dealer in the UK, George Laing took a gamble on a new life in Europe - with just 85p. With gruelling hard work and patience, the Brit is slowly transforming a derelict three-story building into his dream home - and he has another plan up his sleeve. Advertisement 15 George Laing, 32, bought his dream home for cheap as part of the €1 Houses project Credit: Instagram/george_laing_ 15 The property George bought for 85p Credit: SWNS 15 He snapped up the home in Mussomeli, Sicily - a sun-soaked region popular with those wanting the laid back European lifestyle Credit: Alamy 15 The Brit reveals his long and pricey renovation process - but insists it has been worth it Credit: Supplied 15 George has done all the renovation work himself Credit: Instagram/george_laing_ Advertisement He has just finalised the deal on a SECOND 85p house - and intends to purchase up to 15 more over the next three years. When The property was in desperate need of an overhaul, with a hole in the roof and no running water or electricity. Several wooden beams were rotting from both ends and worrying cracks lined almost every wall in each room. What started as a crumbling €1 house has now started to turn into a beautiful, liveable home George Laing The bathroom was a tiny box and the kitchen was simply a metal stove connected to a propane tank. Advertisement But beyond the gloomy exterior and lackluster interior, And even with no prior background in revamping anything close to a three-floored home, George was determined to get stuck in. He now spends two weeks a month at home in the UK and the rest in beautiful Sicily, working tirelessly to complete his George even plans to open up an antiques shop in Mussomeli at the end of the year so he can continue his jewellery business in Italy. Speaking to The Sun, the young homeowner has revealed just how far he has come in the past 12 months. Advertisement I left UK to buy 85p home - I get perfect weather, cheap booze & better neighbours He said: 'It's surreal to see the first house coming together - we've got water, electricity, and now we're onto the exciting part: fitting out the kitchen and bathrooms with marble from a local quarry. 'I want the finish to be as beautiful as the bones of the building. 'Once the first house is finished, we're throwing a huge celebration — the mayor's coming, the neighbours are invited. "It's not just a personal milestone, it's a community one. "What started as a crumbling €1 house has now started to turn into a beautiful, liveable home." Advertisement Just 10,000 residents live in George's new hometown of Mussomeli. The sun-soaked region of Sicily has long been known as a glorious haven for those wanting the laid back European lifestyle. George, who lives in Eastbourne and used to work to London, says the drastic change in vibes is one of the key factors behind why he purchased the home. He explained: "In Sicily, life is just a bit slower. "You've got a different quality of life, and obviously the weather is 25-30 degrees everyday. And it's a beautiful place." Advertisement 15 The first three-storey home is still far from finished but George is determined to see the project through Credit: Instagram/george_laing_ 15 The home was falling apart when George first bought it but he has managed to transform it into a dream home Credit: George Laing 15 The kitchen was simply a metal stove connected to a propane tank at first Credit: George Laing 15 George's rather uninviting front door when he first purchased the home Credit: George Laing Despite living in a foodie paradise, renovating the home hasn't been without its challenges. Advertisement He said: "It's been like a full-time job mixed with the most personal kind of DIY adventure. 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The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
Never mind the spin - Ireland isn't close to ‘breakeven' on the €21 billion AIB bailout
Paul O'Donoghue GOOD NEWS – WE'RE up on our big investment! 'What investment?' you cry. Why, the Great Bank Bailout investment, of course! You see, during the week the state sold its final shareholding in AIB. It was once assumed that a lot of the cash poured into the lender was a sunk cost. It turns out, that isn't the case. The government said during the week that, once everything is factored in, AIB will come extremely close to repaying its bailout. Some €20.8 billion was put into the lender during the financial crisis. The government so far has gotten back €19.8 billion. Eventually, the total recovered amount will likely rise to just over €20 billion. Multiple media outlets reported during the week that AIB will end up about '€700 million shy' of repaying the state. Essentially, coming very close to breakeven. This is based on calculations provided by the Department of Finance. The department said when you look at the bailout money collectively put into AIB, Bank of Ireland (BOI) and PTSB, 'the state is €0.6 billion above break-even on its €29.4 billion investment'. All of that sounds great. But it doesn't give the full picture. Here's why. A LUAS tram passes in front of AIB headquarters. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The debt To cut a long story short – the government's figures don't take debt servicing costs into account. When the Irish state poured €29.4 billion into those AIB/BOI/PTSB during the financial crisis, it borrowed money to do so. This debt costs money to service – quite a bit. Let's start with AIB. As stated, the AIB bailout cost was €20.8 billion. The Comptroller and Auditor General (basically the state spending watchdog) previously estimated that, as of the end of 2021, debt servicing costs on the AIB bailout amounted to €7.1 billion. 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The NTMA (National Treasury Management Agency) is the Irish agency which manages the state's assets. Let's think about that for a minute. The Department of Finance doesn't include the billions in debt servicing costs – which are real costs – because counting this is handled by a different state agency. Does that sound like a good reason to ignore billions in taxpayer funds spent? It would be one thing if profit and loss wasn't mentioned at all. But by saying taxpayers are actually in profit on the AIB/BOI/PTSB bailout, the Department's claims paint a misleading picture. Let's take a quick look at debt servicing costs for the three main banks. As of end 2021, the most recent figures available: AIB: €7.1 billion BOI: €0.7 billion PTSB: €0.7 billion That's an additional €8.5 billion. So rather than taxpayers being '€0.6 billion above break-even', we'd actually be about €8 billion down. Not even counting the additional debt costs paid since the end of 2021. It's also telling how the Department chose to highlight the 'investment' into AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB. It didn't mention the other two lenders we bailed out 'invested' in at the same time. This pair, of course, was Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide (INBS). Between them, they received bailout funds of €34.5 billion. The state has recovered about €1.1 billion of that amount. The remaining €33.4 billion is officially deemed an 'unrecoverable sunk cost'. Anglo and INBS were merged into a new state-owned entity called the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which is trying to get anything it can back for taxpayers. So it's perhaps understandable why the Department would prefer to forget about these two when talking about how well we are doing on our banking 'investment'. Let's do a quick rundown of where things actually stand when looking at the Irish state's banking 'investments' – when including debt servicing costs. AIB – loss for the state. Likely in the region of €8 billion BOI – profit. Approximately €1.4 billion PTSB – state still holds 57% stake, currently valued at €600 million. State will likely finish at a loss of about €1 billion. Possibly less, depending on how much it ultimately sells the shares for. IBRC – loss. Likely in the region of €35 – €40 billion once all costs are included. Briefly returning to AIB. Seeing as the Department of Finance consistently refers to the bank bailouts as 'investments', it's worth briefly considering them as such. If someone invests €20.8 billion in 2010, and receives a payout of say €20.8 billion in 2025, how did they fare? Well, you *could* say they broke even, on a 'cash in, cash out' basis. But in reality, they lost money due to inflation. €20.8 billion in 2010 is worth the same as about €27 billion in today's money. And that's on top of… something… oh yeah, billions in debt servicing costs! How do we keep forgetting those pesky charges? When the government continuously forgets them as well, it can be hard to remember! We're down billions None of this is necessarily to say that bailing out the banks was the wrong move. The Irish state got something valuable for the AIB bailout. It ensured one of the country's main lenders didn't collapse. It also got a decent amount of the bailout money back in the end. At least, from AIB, PTSB and BOI. Likely a good bit more than was expected during the crash. That's all fine. So why can't the government be happy with that, rather than trying to spin that we are around 'breakeven' on our AIB 'investment'? To its credit, AIB's statement on its return to private ownership didn't make any mention of the state's 'return on investment'. So if AIB hasn't tried to claim this, why has the government? Put simply – the government is trying to spin that taxpayers got a return on the bank bailouts. Three of them, at least. But we didn't. Even on those selectively-chosen three bailouts, we're down billions and billions of euro. When the government is trying to rewrite history, it should be called out for it. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
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