1.1. Carmarthenshire County Council is actively supporting initiatives to revive the economy of Ammanford which has suffered in recent years through the decline of traditional industries.
1.2. A programme of environmental and infrastructure improvements are being pursued to stimulate confidence in the investment potential of the town. The works programme to date has embraced traffic improvements, the development of retail sites, car parks and townscape improvements.
1.3. One of the key supporting elements in the regeneration proposals is the development and improvement of the Trunk and Principal road network serving the town and its surrounding settlements, in order to improve access to the A48/M4 corridor.
1.4. The strategy involves the construction of new highway links by-passing the A483 Trunk Road and the A474 Principal Road so as to alleviate congestion in the town and to open up opportunities for economic regeneration.
1.5. The route commences at Cooper's corner on the A483 Trunk Road and runs due east towards Pantyffynnon crossing the Afon Llwchwr and Heart of Wales Railway Line in quick succession before continuing along the west bank of the Afon Aman to join up with the Inner Relief Road. The route then continues from the Park Street roundabout to Pontamman, where it connects with the A474 to Glanaman. The link from Coopers Corner to Pontamman is known as the southern route.
1.6. Consideration is also being given to the construction of a northern link from Pantyffynnon to the A483 Trunk Road just to the south of Llandybie.
2. PROGRESS
2.1. Detailed planning consent has been obtained for the Park Street to Pontamman element of the Ammanford Outer Relief Road.
2.2. Work is proceeding on the development of the Coopers Corner to Park Street link up to a stage where it can be submitted for full planning consent.
2.3. The northern link from Pantyffynnon to the A483 Trunk Road just to the south of Llandybie is currently being reappraised and a report on the feasibility and desirability of this link will be produced once the reappraisal exercise has been completed.
3. FUNDING
3.1. The overall cost of the entire Outer Relief Road is estimated to be £14.2 million at today's price levels.
3.2. A bid for Transport Grant from the National Assembly for Wales was made last summer for money to enable the County Council to proceed with the detailed design of the scheme. Regretably owing to competing demands by other Welsh Unitary Authorities the National Assembly were not able to award Transport Grant to the scheme in 2000/2001. In fact, Peter Law was only able to add one new scheme to the programme this year in the whole of Wales. However, the County Council will have a further opportunity to submit the Ammanford Outer Relief Road for Transport Grant support during this summer's bidding round.
3.3. Grant assistance for investment in transport infrastructure may also be made available to the County Council through the European Objective 1 Programme. The Ammanford Outer Relief Road is considered to be a strong candidate for support from this programme because of the clear job creation potential which the scheme will create.
4. PROGRAMME
4.1. Programming of the scheme is dependent on the availability of funding and the successful completion of all the necessary statutory procedures.
4.2. However the Council is continuing to develop the scheme as quickly as possible with the resources available. For example, in this years Capital Programme a sum of £120,000 has been allocated for design fees.
4.3. It shall also be recognised that the Outer Relief Road can be constructed in phases. The Park Street to Pontamman Link is the most advanced section and its construction would bring immediate traffic relief to High Street and open up development land at the Betws Industrial Park off Foundry Road.
4.4. The estimated cost of the Park Street to Pontamman Link is £3 million and will take around 18 months to construct.
5. RECOMMENDATION
5.1. That the Aman Gwendraeth Area Committee notes the progress being made with the development of the Ammanford Outer Relief Road and supports the efforts being made to attract external funding.