A MULTIMILLION pound regeneration plan is set to transform the former mining area of Cwm Lickey, Pontypool.

Torfaen Council are looking to invest around £3m in the area plagued by subsidence and contamination due to past industrial use.

A report by the council looks as ways to make the land safe and the possibility of creating a football pitch, improving access roads and caravan parks, reopening Penyrheol Reservoir as a nature reserve and possibly building a new housing development.

Councillor Neil Waite, of the Cwmynyscoy ward says he would like to see the local pitch, which has been closed since 1997 after land subsided, made safe for use and reopened.

Chair of Cwmynyscoy Junior Football Club, Dai Cosllett, 48, said the pitch is desperately needed because there are ten local teams and only one pitch.

He said: "The children can't play as much as they want to. They give 110 percent to playing football and they deserve a pitch in return."

Councillor Waite also wants the roads in the area to be improved for the local residents and to make it easier for visitors to access.

He said: "I feel frustrated that Cwm Lickey has been left like this.

"The roads around here are shocking - in some places it is like stepping back 100 years and in today's society people shouldn't have to put up with that.

  • Torfaen Council are holding a consultation meeting with residents on Wednesday, January 30 at the Race Club, Blaendare Road, at 6pm to discuss the plan. A proposal will be put to the council in April or May.