Llanelli's North Dock is to be transformed

The maritime-themed development will see 42 town houses and 216 apartments spring up at the former industrial site, it was announced on Thursday.

The national construction company David McLean Homes has bought a seven acre tract of land at the dock which borders the �31m Millennium Coastal Park.

The area was a wasteland until the coast was redeveloped in the late 1990s.

This is a unique kind of development in Llanelli, there is nowhere else with waterfront views on three sides WDA area manager Huw Thomas

Development sites along the coast were marketed during a developers day held to coincide with the jubilee visit of the Queen last June.

David McLean homes is the first company to secure land at the waterfront which will be home to a mix of residential and leisure uses.

Thanks to Objective One funding construction of a �1.7m visitor centre is underway at nearby Llanelli Beach.

And a further 176 are being built just down the road at the new Jack Nicklaus golf course.

The dock already has outline planning permission for a residential homes but a detailed application will now be submitted to Carmarthenshire Council which has developed the are with the Welsh Development Agency (WDA).

The �22m development was unveiled on Thursday

David McLean group director Frank Reil said work should start on site in the autumn with the first properties going on the market in May or June next year.

"The location is stunning, you couldn't get better views than this with the whole of the Llanelli coastline, the Gower peninsula and the newly reclaimed North Dock," he said.

WDA area development manager Huw Thomas said North Dock was a prime site for housing, leisure and commercial opportunities.

"This is a unique kind of development in Llanelli, there is nowhere else with waterfront views on three sides," he said.

"It is ideally suited to the other developments planned for North Dock, and will set the standard for future schemes."

Some �1.1m of infrastructure work with electricity, gas and drainage to serve the whole North Dock site is now being carried out.

Council chief executive Mark James said: "We hope it will be soon followed by office accommodation with quality jobs for Llanelli, and good leisure developments for local people and visitors."