One of the world’s biggest planetariums is planned for a site in South Wales.
It is hoped Planetariwm Wales will be drive future investment, create employment opportunities and economic regeneration in the immediate areas and wider city region.
The plans have received support from industry pioneers, such as The Eden Project’s Sir Tim Smith, and it is anticipated that it would transform the site of the iconic former Tower Colliery.
Last month plans for a Plans for Zip World adventure park in Rhigos are revealed - and they include three zip wire courses .
Plans for Zip World adventure park in Rhigos are revealed - and they include three zip wire courses
The application included parts of the site of the former Tower Colliery. This area will be used for car parking, as well as being the base for the zip wire adventure, providing a reception area.
Zip World has grown rapidly since launching its first superfast zip line at Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda in 2013.
Over the past five years the company has contributed £251m to the north Wales economy, according a 2018 report from North Wales Tourism, and created 450 permanent jobs, with 93% of the staff living locally.
According to the planning document, it is estimated that the proposed Rhigos development will provide employment opportunities for eight full time staff and 50 part time staff when fully operational.
The Tower Colliery site has not been in use since it closed in 2008.
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Planetariwm Wales believes it will kickstart economic regeneration and investment in the area through three main strands, including a Planetariwm Theatre, an experiential discovery centre and an education and research centre.
These different zones reflect the project’s ambition to grow into a world-class centre that supports the advancement in STEM across Wales, while creating 54 jobs in the process.
Using state-of-the-art technology and the latest high-resolution imagery, the planetarium looks to not only create educating and stimulating experiences for visitors, but also act as a leading-edge facility for research and development in digital visualisation
Allan Trow, manager of Dark Sky Wales, the mobile educational company which takes space and planet study to schools across Wales and is delivering the project, said: "This is going to be a world-leading development. Unlike other planetariums in the UK, Planetariwm Wales will seat up to 350 people and be amongst the largest planetariums in the world.
"Its distinctive size and use of futuristic technology will give visitors a unique opportunity, where they can drift off into space and fully immerse themselves into space.
"It’s a multi-functional experience that will stimulate, educate and entertain all generations and support the local communities and areas in the long-run."
With a diameter of 26m and a capacity of up to 350 people, it will be one of the largest planetariums in the world. Its size will attract people throughout the UK and the world, for both educational and recreational activities.
Inspired by the success of the Eden Project in Cornwall and the benefits it brought to the local area, developers of Planetariwm Wales are confident that similar success can be recreated for South Wales.
Sir Tim Smit, Vice Chair of the Eden Project, said: “This is a great opportunity for Wales, in particular the Valleys. The Eden Project showed the positive impact such developments can have on the local economy. It has become a symbol of regeneration in areas, such as South Wales, that have similar demographics and face similar challenges.
“Since its creation, the Eden Project has generated over two billion pounds to the wider local economy. I believe that the Planetariwm Wales can bring the same benefits to local communities and the wider city area, helping it to prosper and regenerate.
“Whatever is spent on Planetariwm Wales must be analysed, not in terms of what is the return of people coming to it? It is also, what is it doing to lift the pull of low expectation and creating new economic thinking and social thinking within probably thirty miles of it? Now you will find that that will be a very significant figure.
“It just takes the one statement of faith in a place for other little statements to start and a culture to develop, and then before you know it, people are coming to learn, and an education infrastructure starts to develop. And then, the people making the t-shirts, the postcards, the books, the lectures, the digital presence, the global advertising, come to Wales. Now you suddenly start to say, ‘wow’, that was a complete bargain.”
Serving as a landmark for South East Wales, the aim is to lay the first bricks for the planetarium within three years.
