The Millennium Coastal Park was originally a project undertaken by Llanelli Borough Council to transform a 20 km stretch of industrial wasteland on the south Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

 coast in to green parkland. The project was then taken over by Carmarthenshire County Council

Carmarthenshire County Council

Carmarthenshire County Council is the local authority for the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, providing a range of services under the control of elected county councillors that include education, planning, transport, social services and public safety...

 after the amalgamation of Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 local authorities and aims to transform the land into a recreational area for the general public. Although many parts of the park have been finished and open to the public for a while, the development of new facilities continues in forms such as the expansion of Burry Port

Burry Port

Burry Port is a small town five miles outside the larger centre of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the Loughor estuary. The town's population is roughly 8,000 although in the 2001 census there were 4209 residents....

 marina

Marina

A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....

 and the construction of housing and leisure complexes at Llanelli's

Llanelli

Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...

 North Dock.

The park offers views of the Gower Peninsula

Gower Peninsula

Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...

 on the other side of the Loughor estuary, and features a variety of visitor attractions including the North Dock visitor centre, National Wetlands Centre Wales

WWT National Wetlands Centre

WWT National Wetlands Centre is one of nine wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a nature conservation charity.-Location:...

 at Penclacwydd and Sandy Water Park

Sandy, Carmarthenshire

Sandy is an area in the county of Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, on the western border of Llanelli town, about 5 miles east of Burry Port....

. The Millennium Coastal Path

Millennium coastal path

The Millennium Coastal Path is a 22 km pedestrian walkway and cycleway along the south coast of Carmarthenshire, providing a link between Llanelli and Pembrey Country Park. The cycleway forms a section of both the Celtic Trail cycle route and the National Cycle Network NCN 4.The Millennium...

 (a stretch of the Celtic Trail cycle route

Celtic Trail cycle route

The Celtic Trail is a network of dedicated cycle routes in the National Cycle Network, crossing West, South and Mid Wales, and covering 377 miles in total. It is divided into east and west sections. The west section links Pembroke and Fishguard on the west coast to Swansea, and the east section...

, also known as National Cycle Route

National Cycle Network

The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...

 4) runs through the park.

February 2007 storm damage

On the evening of Monday 19 February 2007 a high tide combined with a high storm swell caused severe damage to a section of the path and cycle route near Burry Port. The damage to a 500m section was severe, with complete loss of a 150m section.

See also

• WWT National Wetlands Centre
  WWT National Wetlands Centre
  WWT National Wetlands Centre is one of nine wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a nature conservation charity.-Location:...
  
  
• Millennium Coastal Park Website Including Map of the park, plus places to visit and hotels in the area.