Council Weighs Changes to Next Phases of £218m Pentre Awel Development After Leisure Centre Success

Hundreds of people have signed up for gym and swimming membership at Llanelli’s new multi-million-pound leisure centre but a big change in how the wider site is developed is under discussion.

The new leisure centre opened last month and is the centrepiece of the first phase of the £200m-plus Pentre Awel development spread across 83 acres at Delta Lakes, Llanelli.

Pentre Awel – a leisure, health, business, education, and housing project – is being spearheaded by Carmarthenshire Council and funded by a range of sources via the city deal for the Swansea Bay City Region.

Ian Jones, the council’s head of leisure, told councillors at a scrutiny meeting there have been “over 600 additional sign-ups” for gym, aquatics, and other membership activities since the new swimming pool and gym opened.

He said usage of the leisure centre would be monitored and the council would try to attract new members from the local area – an area described by Cllr Martyn Palfreman as one of “significant deprivation”.

Referring to the new leisure centre Mr Jones said: “The overwhelming feedback is that people are really, really impressed.”

Pentre Awel has always been earmarked for four phases of development but a report said the second phase – a nursing home and flats for people who need help to live independently – and the third phase – namely business units and a so-called assisted living development comprising some flats for sale and some rental – might now be co-located rather than being on separate plots.

The report before the communities, home, and regeneration scrutiny committee said a single site was being explored for these two phases and doing so would free up one of the plots of land that could be sold to help pay for the single site.

The final fourth phase of Pentre Awel is to consist of a hotel and new homes.

“An assessment is now being undertaken of the overall financial viability of the proposals with a view to reporting the outcome to members (councillors) in the coming months,” said the committee report.

Pentre Awel has a target of creating 1,853 jobs by 2032-33. Its partners include Hywel Dda University Health Board and three Welsh universities.

The completed first phase, which includes a shared-use path around the main lake, was due to cost just under £96.5m but the committee report said the final price was subject to “an end of contract negotiation” with contractor Bouygues UK.

It added that Swansea University’s space at Pentre Awel was ready for use and that Hywel Dda services including nursing, audiology, and phlebotomy clinics would open there next year. The first of several business units will also open in 2026.

Referring to the phases as zones the report added: “The financial profile for subsequent zones will be developed as those zones develop. These zones will require private sector investment and will therefore need to be sustainable in their own right.”

Councillors on the committee have toured Pentre Awel and said they were very pleased with what they saw. Cllr Sean Rees called it “fantastic” and urged the council to keep liaising with Llanelli residents about the project as it progressed. He also said the authority should put pressure on Hywel Dda to bring forward its occupation of the site, particularly the phlebotomy clinic.

Cllr Rob Evans was thrilled with the new hydrotherapy pool at Pentre Awel which, he said, would benefit young and old people.

There was no discussion about the proposal to co-locate the the second and third phases and sell the freed-up land.

In terms of overall funding, a report last month by a regional group which oversees city deal projects such as Pentre Awel said it was currently expected to cost £218m in total, almost equally split between the public and private sector.