Major milestone reached with arena project

Ted Peskett – Local democracy reporter

A major milestone has been reached in the development of a new indoor arena for Cardiff.

Key decision makers at Cardiff Council met at the site of the former County Hall car park in Atlantic Wharf on Tuesday, September 9, to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony of the new 16,500-capacity arena.

Groundworks have been taking place at the turfed up former car park for months now, but this week marks the moment that construction work really begins on the site.

In the eyes of some, the arena will fill a gap Cardiff’s live music and entertainment offering, with the city’s main arenas currently having capacities of either 30,000 to 70,000 or 5,000.

However, others have criticised the £300m project and raised concerns about the council borrowing tens of millions of pounds to fund it.

‘Vibrant’

The ground-breaking ceremony for the arena, which was attended by the leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, and the local authority’s chief executive office, Paul Orders, comes not long after the project reached financial close.

Cllr Thomas said: “This arena will transform Cardiff’s visitor economy in a way nothing has since the stadium opened in 1999.

“It’s not just about the bricks and mortar; it’s about underpinning and enhancing Cardiff’s status as a vibrant, dynamic destination for music and culture.

“The project will ensure that Cardiff continues to thrive as a hub of creativity and innovation.

“It is the cornerstone of our Music City strategy, which aims to support every part of Cardiff’s music ecosystem – from musicians to producers, promoters, and venues.

“But crucially, this project will drive economic growth and social value, particularly in the area surrounding the arena, creating jobs and lifting horizons in some ofWales’ most economically-challenged communities.

“It is for all these reasons that the arena has been a priority for this council administration for over a decade, and why I’m delighted that this decisive milestone has now been achieved.”

Hotels

Live music industry giants, Live Nation, will operate the arena once it’s completed. A grand opening for the site is expected to be held in 2028.

The arena is part of a wider regeneration project for Atlantic Wharf which will also see offices, shops, flats, hotels and a new public square built there.

Connecting it all to the city centre will be a new tram line from Cardiff Central railway station which is currently under development.

A number of opposition councillors at Cardiff Council usually mention the arena when the local authority announces it has difficult budget decisions to make, arguing more funding should be directed at struggling council services.

In March, the council proposed a number of cuts and changes to services in order to bridge a £27m budget gap and earlier this month it announced it could face a £38m gap next year.

In that announcement, the council said it may have to stop running some services in order to save money.

Time and again the leader of the Liberal Democrats group, Cllr Rodney Berman, has called on the council to re-think its decision on the indoor arena.

Costs

Last year, he criticised the council for being too ready to “splash the cash” on major projects when it was proposing to get rid of litter bins and reduce street cleansing.

Cardiff Council built up debts totalling more than £980m at the end of the last financial year, according to UK Government data, representing a 1.39% rise compared to the year before.

In a recent update on its capital programme, the local authority said there was no scope for it to borrow any more money for major projects.

This means any new capital expenditure will be minimised unless it can be supported by external partners.

The council’s capital programme is a long-term spending plan which sets out investment in major one-off projects like the arena.

Capital schemes which are already planned for Cardiff and their timing will have to be reviewed by the council to identify any cost pressures and opportunities for external funding.

Cardiff Council also said it would seek longer-term planning frameworks for capital investment with external grant providers.

However, it added current bid arrangements made this difficult to plan.