Swansea: Copper heritage site pontoon attraction plan

A 59m long pontoon would be placed alongside this walk along the River Tawe

Plans for a £300,000 pontoon near a former copperworks heritage site have been unveiled by Swansea council.

A 59m (194ft) pontoon moored at Hafod-Morfa copperworks would "help tell the story" of the Grade II listed quay, the council said.

It is hoped it will become a stopping point for rowers, pleasure boaters and the tour vessel Copper Jack.

The proposal still needs consent from the Welsh government's heritage body Cadw.

Work to restore the old copperworks site, which stretches over 12 acres on the west bank of the River Tawe has been under way since 2019.

• Copperworks regeneration unveiled

• Restoration hope for copperworks bridge

Planning documents indicate the pontoon would feature four linked platforms alongside an existing river walk and disused quay wall on the western bank of the river. It would rise and fall with river levels.

It would also give the Copper Jack - a tourism vessel that sails past the copperworks and tells passengers about its history - a place to dock, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

Work to stabilise at-risk buildings (pictured here in 2018) and redevelop the abandoned copperworks is under way

The copperworks redevelopment already included building restoration to create a visitor centre and for associated businesses to be developed.

An Aberdare-based whisky firm has already been given the go-ahead to build a new distillery and visitor centre there.

Penderyn Whisky is to redevelop a disused building, with plans to open this year.

The pontoon proposal includes a recommendation that council pollution officers put up signs discouraging swimming after a water quality report in 2021 found "some very high bacteria levels".