Cardiff International Sports Village

In the early part of the 19th century Welsh coal was in much demand throughout the world. Cardiff was the centre of this export trade, but it was under the control of the Bute family. In 1859, the Taff Vale Railway Company created a series of wharves in the mouth of the River Ely. In the 1860s a chain ferry (which gave Ferry Road its name) opened, giving dockers a shortcut between the two sides of the mouth of the river. The ferry was replaced in 1900 by the Ely Subway.

The Railway public house, named because of the criss cross of tracks over the site became known as the Red House. This well known inn was used as a beacon to navigate sea going craft until its recent demolition.

When the barrage was completed, the site became prime real estate again with a freshwater lake on the shore. This would eventually become the Cardiff International Sports Village.

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Ice Arena Wales is an ice hockey rink which opened on 12 March 2016. It has two ice rinks and seating for over 3,000 spectators. It is home to the Cardiff Devils, who play in the professional British Elite Ice Hockey League.

The Cardiff International Pool^[5] opened on 12 January 2008 and is a public-private funded project partnership between Cardiff Council (land owner) and Parkwood Leisure (operator).^[6][7][8] Orion Land and Leisure and Explore Investments were also partners in developing the pool, however they have now pulled out of their wider agreement with Cardiff Council to develop the sports village site. Construction of the £32 million facility commenced in April 2006 and includes a 50 m (160 ft) 10-lane competition swimming pool with seating for 1,000 spectators, a 25 m (82 ft) 4-lane warm up/leisure pool, plus 4 flume rides, a beach area with water slides and a gym.^[6][8] The building also features a rarely used sun terrace, accessed via the main competition pool area.

An Olympic standard white water rafting centre, Cardiff International White Water, opened on 27 March 2010 at the sports village. The 250-metre-long course, which cost £13.3 million, is the UK's first Olympic-standard pumped water canoe slalom course.^[9]

Costing approximately £5 million, Pont y Werin (English: People's Bridge) is a bridge crossing the River Ely, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to travel between the International Sports Village (ISV) and Penarth. It has significantly enhanced non vehicular access to the site by allowing the public to travel to the ISV via Cogan railway station.^[10] It also completes the six and a half mile Bay circular walk. Construction of the 140 m (460 ft) pedestrian and cycle bridge, designed by Faber Maunsell and Holder Mathias architects, commenced in summer 2009 and it opened to the public in July 2010. The four main sections, which weigh between 38 and 46 tonnes, were lowered into place by the 1,200-tonne crane, the largest in the UK, in late March 2010.^[11] Funding for the new bridge came from the Welsh Government (£1.645m), Cardiff Council (£1.3m), Sustrans (£1.15m), Cardiff Harbour Authority (£250,000) and £200,000 from the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Sustrans used part of a £50m award it received from the Big Lottery Fund in 2007 after winning a national TV vote.^[11]

Existing residential developments include Victoria Wharf, Prospect Place and Waterside. Proposed residential developments included Bay Pointe, which was due to include Wales' tallest building.^[12] In December 2008 the developer announced that the original plans for the scheme were being scrapped due to the economic climate and difficult housing market, and that any future residential development on the site of the proposed towers was likely to be of a much lower density.^[13] However a new high rise development, put forward by a different developer, has since been granted planning permission which will include a 139m tall luxury hotel, apartments and ancillary retail/leisure units. The new development is called Bayscape.

Two superstores with associated surface car parks have been constructed for the supermarket chain Morrisons and the toy retailer Toys R Us. The Morrisons store also includes a petrol station next to the entrance of the car park. One further retail plot will be released in the future and it is likely that any future leisure schemes on site, such as Bayscape, will include at least some small retail units as part of a mixed use development.

The Toys R Us store has since closed down. In 2018, Cardiff Council acquired the superstore for £3.9m to develop a new adventure sports led attraction.^[14]

This was a temporary ice arena with a capacity of 2,500 spectators for ice hockey and was home to the Cardiff Devils. The prefabricated building was constructed in Finland and was operated by the private sector company Planet Ice. The rink opened on 6 December 2006 following several delays and closed after the Cardiff Devils moved to the Ice Arena Wales on 12 March 2016.

Cardiff Council had bid for the single super-casino licence or one of 8 large casino licences being issued by the UK government, but was unsuccessful in both bids. Following its rejection the council had intended to continue to press for a licence to be granted, though this became irrelevant after the government eventually scrapped the legislation creating the casinos altogether.^[15]

A 220-metre viewing tower providing panoramic views over South Wales and the Bristol Channel had originally been proposed for the ISV site.^[16] Due to insufficient funding stemming from the failure to win the super casino licence and later the economic downturn, the plans were shelved.

The site is connected to the national road network via the Cogan Spur on the A4055 and the A4232 and then onto the M4 J33.

The nearest station is Cogan railway station in Cogan, which is approximately 10 minutes away by foot via Pont y Werin.

Cardiff Bus operates the following services to the Bay:

• 5 – City Centre (Cardiff Central Library) via Cardiff Bay
• 9 – City Centre (Cardiff Queen Street railway station and Cardiff Central Library) via Grangetown^[17]
• X45 – St.Mellons via Newport Road, City Centre and Grangetown

The nearest airport is Cardiff Airport, about 30 minutes away by road, or by rail on the Vale of Glamorgan Line from Cogan railway station, which has frequent scheduled and charter flights to the UK, Europe, North America and Africa.

The site is in the Grangetown ward, which is part of Cardiff Council.