Newport's Celtic Manor convention centre gets green light

Details of the layout and landscaping have been planned over the last 12 months

Work on a convention centre at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort will start in the new year after planning permission was granted.

The Wales International Convention Centre will have the capacity for 4,000 delegates, making it the largest of its kind in Wales and south west England.

Newport council's planning committee backed the detailed plans at a meeting on Wednesday.

The centre will create 250 jobs and could be open by 2019.

The reception and entrance will be glass-fronted

This is what the convention centre will look like from the M4

More than 200 jobs will also be created during the three-year construction of the centre, which will have an auditorium for up to 1,500 delegates and a separate exhibition hall.

It will also have 13 meeting rooms, outdoor terraces and an entrance plaza with potential for an outdoor theatre.

The so-called "ground-scraper" will include two storeys of basement parking for 700 cars underneath the main hall, as well as a new multi-storey car park over four floors with another 290 spaces.

It is nearly two years since the plans were first unveiled, while outline planning permission was granted last July.

There have been no objections to the latest detailed proposals

A view from a balcony

The resort has already hosted major events such as last September's Nato summit, which saw 60 world leaders including President Barack Obama descend on the venue off the M4 under tight security.

The hotel and golf complex - owned by telecoms billionaire Sir Terry Matthews - also hosted the Ryder Cup golf tournament in 2010.

ANALYSIS by BBC Wales business correspondent Brian Meechan

Wales needs a convention centre to compete with the likes of Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool.

On that, everyone agrees. But where to put it is a different matter.

The Celtic Manor has beaten Cardiff to deliver a venue that could host international business functions, political party conferences and major events like sporting tournaments.

There has been talk for a long time about Cardiff building a convention centre and it has not happened.

So many hoteliers in the capital are very happy that the Celtic Manor will be going ahead with it.

They will certainly receive a lot of business from events held at the Newport site.

If an event has 4,000 delegates and the Celtic Manor has 400 rooms, that is a benefit not just for other hotels but also restaurants, taxi companies and various other firms.

Frustration

The Welsh government has set targets to improve tourism by 2020.

The capital has to play a major part in driving that increase.

One of the problems Cardiff hotels have is that they are packed at weekends, but much quieter in the week than they should be.

That is because of a lack of business travellers, which is a result in part of there being no convention centre in the city to host major events.

Cardiff council says it will now focus on creating an "international multi-purpose arena".

You do not have to read between the lines of its statement to sense its frustration that the Welsh government chose to financially back the Celtic Manor convention centre.

In fairness to ministers though, it seems they backed the most solid plan on the table that was likely to turn into something more than a talking point.