SLR to help regenerate two mining sites in South Wales

Consultancy firm to manage the transformation of East Pit and Margam surface mines

SLR Consulting have been appointed by Celtic Energy and Oak Regeneration as the master-planners on major regeneration projects located at two surface mining sites in South Wales.

The SLR master-planning team will manage the transformation of the opencast site at East Pit, in the Amman Valley in South Wales, into an international tourism and leisure destination, and the former Margam mine site, near Port Talbot, into a new mixed-use eco-village on the M4 corridor.

The East Pit project (pictured) is the first of its kind in Wales and will utilize the final stages of the working mine to create a dynamic new landscape that will provide a sustainable economic future for the local community once coal extraction ceases.

Sustainable energy solutions will be integral to the development, which will aim to drive a range of rural regeneration projects in the tourism, leisure and green economy sectors.

Meanwhile, the Margam project will focus on the comprehensive redevelopment of the former coal mine to accommodate substantial commercial and residential components, as well as local community and employment facilities.

Both projects will be progressed through design review processes with the Design Council for Wales during 2012.

SLR technical director Paul McTernan said: ‘These are highly ambitious projects which will showcase an innovative approach to the regeneration of coal mining communities in the UK.

‘They will require a range of multidisciplinary skills to bring together the best of extraction planning, environmental restoration, master-planning, community regeneration, tourism, economic viability testing as well as community and stakeholder consultation.’