WORK is due to start in January on a £4.6 million project to improve safety at a former industrial site and eventually create a new pond.
The former British ironworks site, at Talywain, near Pontypool, is the largest derelict industrial site remaining in South East Wales and was brought by Torfaen Borough Council in 2016.
The 1,300 acres site is riddled with former mine shafts and adits, non-vertical mine access roads also known as drifts.
Torfaen Borough Council has announced work to clear an area of the British is due to start on Monday, January 5, ahead of a construction project to improve safety, and due to be completed by the end of February.
Members of the public will still be able to access the site, which is a popular dog walking area, but some areas will be fenced off from mid-January.
The work is the first phase of a major regeneration and flood prevention project focused on an area of the site known as the Black Patch.
Two watercourses will be redirected to create a pond, which will be designed to hold excess water and reduce pressure on underground culverts. An estimated 13 mine shafts and adits will be made safe as part of the work.
When the council approved the £4.6m land reclamation project, in July 2024, it also gave the go-ahead for a legally binding agreement with private developer IDRIS to bring the land into commercial use, including for clean energy generation, which would be the second phase of development and privately funded.
£4.6m budget
The £4.6m budget also covers a near £200,000 contract awarded in October to cost consultants to provide advice on the pond scheme.
The potential development project will be taken forward as part of a new masterplan process, which the council has said it’s hoped will start in 2026.
Councillor Joanne Gauden, the council’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration, said: “This is an important milestone for The British. The phase one project is critical to improving safety at the site for local residents.
“It will also support local biodiversity and be a more attractive area for people to walk and enjoy spending time in nature.”
The council’s planning department agreed work at the site could go ahead in November after a landscape and ecological management plan was submitted in line with planning permission granted for creating the new pond.
During November, a public drop-in session was held at Talywain Rugby Club to update local residents about the timescale.