Swansea Civic Society

Future meetings

18 Jan 2006 University Archivist Sian Williams discusses the Coalfield collection (Guildhall, 7)

15 Mar 2006 AGM (Guildhall, 7)

Major developments planned for Swansea (Swansea City and County web site)

Swansea: tall buildings policy needed

Google Earth: Swansea waterfront

Swansea Civic Society is very concerned about the city's lack of a tall buildings strategy. Its latest newsletter adds that the city looks foolish, with "developers calling the tune" regarding the height of buildings and council officers worried about being accused of hindering investment. But the city needs to look ahead strategically and resist panic investments that will be detrimental to the city's long term sustainable development.

The society argues that the present policy is leading to the peppering of tall buildings along the seafront and the city; but tall buildings need to be placed in a planned, strategic manner. It will be useless to impose a tall buildings policy one all available sites have been built on.

The city will soon have the tallest building in Wales, 29-storey apartments in a 350-foot block at Ferrara Quay. It has a 14-storey building on Swansea Point despite assurances that building would not exceed ten storeys in adjacent SA1. And other high rise developments are in the pipeline. Blocks of apartments ranging from six to ten storeys in height on the river front of Swansea Eastside, St Thomas, are being considered, together with a seven-storey building in Mumbles replacing the Yacht Club.

The society emphasises that it is in favour both of investment and of the principle of high rise buildings, but says that intelligent thought and the development of a controlling policy needs to guide the consideration of planning proposals. Reckless permissions could mean long-term damage to the city's fabric and texture. Swansea Bay is no place for a Welsh Benidorm.