Development housing S4C headquarters seeks Welsh Government grant

Backers of a development which will house the new S4C headquarters have asked for millions of pounds of extra public money, BBC Wales can reveal.

University of Wales Trinity St David are behind the Yr Egin project in Carmarthen, where the Welsh language broadcaster will be based from 2018.

It has bid for a grant of between £4m and £6m from the Welsh Government.

The university confirmed the business case was "currently being considered by ministers".

Planning permission for the development was granted in October and Kier Group has been appointed as the main contractor.

S4C said its plans to relocate remain unaffected, with 55 jobs moving from Cardiff.

A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "Financing and building the centre is a matter for UWTSD."

Directors of the project have previously estimated the new centre for creative industries is worth £11m a year to the local economy.

A statement from the university said it had been "exploring a number of funding options" relating to the development, which has included discussions with the Welsh Government.

"Our business case for this exciting initiative, which delivers on the programme for government, Taking Wales Forward, is currently being considered by ministers," the statement said.

"This initiative is part of UWTSD's response to the programme for government; it builds upon the Welsh Government's focus on the development of high tech industry hubs across the regions and will further enhance the creative industries in Wales.

"It is an unprecedented opportunity to develop a new Welsh language economic initiative within the rural heartland enabling the establishment of new companies who will be delivering a range of bilingual services.

"We hope to make further announcements about this innovative development in the near future."

Training provider The Big Learning Company, who will also be a tenant in the new building, insisted it was unaware of any possible funding issues.

Company director Mark Jones said: "We at Big Learning Company remain very excited about the prospect of working at Yr Egin on the UWTSD campus alongside key partners like S4C and we are certainly not aware of anything happening in the past few weeks to diminish that prospect.

"We are still in active discussion with the university about their future plans and have maintained a regular dialogue with them about it, as recently as this week, monitoring progress and being kept informed of the development of the site."