St. Modwen has started work on the first phase of residential development with joint venture partner, Persimmon at Glan Llyn, a project redeveloping the former Llanwern Steelworks site in Newport into a £1 billion sustainable community.

Construction is now underway on the first 307 homes at the 600 acre site and follows the completion of extensive works by St. Modwen, to develop a new primary access road and 18 acre public park at the community.

These properties will be the first built on Welsh soil under the joint agreement signed between St. Modwen and Persimmon in 2010 and follows planning approval by Newport City Council to deliver a total of 4,000 homes over the next 20 years at Glan Llyn. Over the next five years, around 2,000 houses, with an end value of £300 million, will be built by Persimmon on seven St. Modwen owned UK sites, including 300 properties at Coed Darcy in Neath.

The first phase of housing comprising 178 Persimmon and 129 Charles Church homes will be launched onto the market ready for occupancy in November. The properties include a range of two, three and four bedroom homes and town houses.

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To officially mark this milestone, Newport City Council Leader, Matthew Evans and Managing Director, Tracey Lee joined St. Modwen Chief Executive, Bill Oliver and Mike Farley, Chief Executive of Persimmon on site in a turf cutting ceremony.

Bill Oliver, Chief Executive of St. Modwen, commented: "We are pleased to mark the start of building works which is an important milestone in the regeneration of this site. This is the first site where our joint venture agreement with Persimmon will see homes developed on Welsh soil. In total, Glan Llyn and the Celtic Business Park, will deliver 4,000 new homes and 6,000 jobs to the area, which will create a new truly sustainable community in Newport."

The visit comes ahead of RESI, a residential and house building conference hosted at the Celtic Manor resort (15-16 September), where Tracey Lee will be speaking about the city's housing sector focusing on Glan Llyn as one of the largest regeneration schemes underway in South Wales.

Mike Farley, Group Chief Executive of Persimmon Homes, said that the start of work on this development represented a major milestone for Persimmon.

He said: "Glan Llyn will be a flagship development for Persimmon Homes and our East Wales team is very much looking forward to starting work on the site.

"Over the next four years, we will be helping to build a vibrant and thriving new community in the heart of south east Wales. We will be creating over 300 desirable properties on the former steelworks site in Llanwern which really will offer something for everyone - from 2-bedroom coach houses perfect for first time buyers and young couples, to 5-bedroom luxury family homes.

"Our joint venture with St. Modwen is already progressing well. We are confident that this latest project in Newport will be a real success."

(CD)