Swansea Bay(Welsh:Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast ofWales.TheRiver Neath,River Tawe,River Afan,River KenfigandClyne Riverflow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of theBristol Channelexperience a largetidal range.The shipping ports in Swansea Bay areSwansea Docks,Port Talbot DocksandBriton Ferrywharves.
Each stretch of beach within the bay has its own name:
Oyster trade
editOysterfishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay, employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s. However, overfishing,diseaseandpollutionhad all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920. In 2005, plans were announced to reintroduce theOyster farmingindustry.[1]
Pollution
editFor the last two decades of the 20th century, the bay was blighted bypollution,partly from the surrounding heavy industry and partly fromsewerageoutlets being sited at inappropriate locations including the main one that was located just seaward ofMumbles Lighthouse.Apumping stationinside the cliff adjacent to Knab Rock brought all of Swansea city's effluent in a raw form to this point. Adding to the problem was the natural current flow of the waters in the Bay which often did not move the polluted waters further out to sea. Ironically, the outgoing tide did not carry the raw sewagedownthe adjacentBristol Channel,but instead cause it to be suckedinaround the circumference of the Bay and only then out down the Channel. If not fully discharged on that tide, the incoming tide would then push the sameeffluentup the Channel, and once again circulate around the Bay. Efforts were made by the local authority to reduce the pollution in the Bay but care had to be taken to ensure the pollution did not move to the popular beach resorts in southGowerinstead.
This original sewer outlet was finally made inactive in around 1996 following the construction of a pipeline which ran all the way back around the Bay following the line of the formerMumbles Railwayas far as Beach Street, along the sea-side of theMaritime Quarterand throughSwansea Docksto a new £90 millionsewage treatmentplant atCrymlyn BurrowsnearPort Tennant.From here a new outlet was made, extending further out to sea. As a consequence of the improvement these works have made, it is hoped that Swansea Bay will achieveBlue Flag Beachstatus. Aberavon beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007.[2]
Power generation
editFossil
editThere is a GE-built gas-fired power station just inland atBaglan Bay.A second gas-fired power station, the "Abernedd Power Station" at Port Talbot, was approved for construction in 2011.[3]
Biomass plans
editA newbiomasspower station was approved in 2014 for construction near the coast at Port Talbot.[4]
Tidal plans
editSwansea Bay (along with the rest of theBristol Channel) has one of the highesttidal rangesin the world. This offers a potential for electricity generation using tidal lagoons. Around 2015, a proposal was made by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Ltd for atidal lagoon.[5]The tidal lagoon would be sited just south of theQueen's DockbetweenRiver TaweandRiver Neathestuaries. This project was controversial, partly due to the amount of subsidy required to make the project viable and also because of the potential damage to anAONBandMCZin Cornwall where Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay sought to re-open a disused quarry at Dean Point from which to source the rock for the lagoon.[6][7][8]
Wind plans
editConstruction of an offshorewindfarmin the Bay was approved in 2004,[9]but construction was deferred owing to the costs involved. The windfarm was to have been sited at Scarweather Sands, about 5 km (3 mi) off the coast and visible fromPorthcawl.
References
edit- ^"Bay plans oyster trade revival".BBC. 22 February 2005.Retrieved24 May2010.
- ^http:// newswales.co.uk/?section=Environment&F=1&id=12706newswales.co.uk
- ^"Multi-million pound Baglan power station still on hold".South Wales Evening Post.15 February 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 24 March 2014 – via Internet Archive.
- ^Moses-Lloyd, Rachel (1 October 2013)."Biomass plant's £11m injection brings new jobs".South Wales Evening Post.Archived fromthe originalon 24 March 2014 – via Internet Archive.
- ^"Project Planner - Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay".tidallagoonswanseabay.Retrieved26 July2015.
- ^"Will Welsh eels scupper the craziest 'green' project ever?".Telegraph.co.uk.18 April 2015.Retrieved26 July2015.
- ^"Swansea Bay tidal lagoon 'appalling value for money', says Citizens Advice".Telegraph.co.uk.21 February 2015.Retrieved26 July2015.
- ^Robin Turner (17 February 2015)."Row over quarry plan for £850m Swansea Bay tidal lagoon - Wales Online".walesonline.Retrieved26 July2015.
- ^"Victory: Offshore wind farm will be built in Wales".Greenpeace UK.11 October 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 20 March 2005.
External links
edit
Media related toSwansea Bayat Wikimedia Commons
- Visit Swansea Bay– City and County of Swansea
- geograph.co.uk: photos of Swansea Bay and surrounding area