Eurocrats cut Cardiff Bay red tape

Eurocratic red tape was swept aside last week to enable Balfour Beatty and Costain to commence work on the œ93 million Cardiff Bay barrage.

Work on the 1.1km barrage has been delayed since the beginning of this year by the European Commission's concerns about the impact of the development upon the feeding grounds of migrating birds.

A meeting between commission officials and the Welsh office to formally resolve the issue is scheduled for the end of June. But in a surprise move, the Welsh Office pre-empted the meeting on the grounds that both sides believe the outcome to be a forgone conclusion.

Its confidence is mainly based on firm plans to spend more than œ5.5 million on creating new feeding grounds for the birds, thus avoiding breach of a European directive aimed at protecting bird life.

'The Government is confident that the EC is satisfied that their concerns have been met,' said a spokesman for the Welsh Office.

Construction contracts were signed between the two contractors and the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation on May 24, and site preparation work commenced the following day. Piling for the barrage will get underway in six months' time.

When complete the barrage will impound the water in the Cardiff Bay area across the mouth of the main estuary to produce 12.8 km of waterfront.

The waterfront is intended to form the centrepiece to an expansive area of mixed commercial and leisure developments worth, in the Welsh Office's estimation, around œ1.2 billion.