The decline in coal
mining eventually led to the drying up of the daily flow of coal
to Cardiff's docklands. The separation of Cardiff from its valleys can be said to
have happened when the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was formed in
1987. The concept of 'docklands' was replaced by 'bay lands' which were
viewed as 2,700 acres of definct products of civil engineering consisting of
waterways, railway sidings, coal hoists and a steelworks. The aim of the new
Development Corporation was to develop seven miles of waterfront through
'one of the most exciting development projects in Europe'.
The valley lands from
this time were to be developed separately with new civil
engineering projects to obliterate as far as possible all evidence of their mining
heritage and make them suitable for incoming businesses to provide
employment for thousands of families formerly supported by their breadwinners
underground.
From 1983 to the end
of the century over seven billion pounds was invested to
boost the South Wales economy. To prepare the ground in the northern valleys,
ten million pounds was spent on removing the largest coal tip in Europe at
Bargoed, and the biggest land reclamation project was initiated at Merthyr
Tydfil. Not many of the new industries that have been attracted are big
employers of labour. The largest single employer in the Valleys is now the long
established company Hoover, which employs around 3,000 workers.
Life after coal in
South Wales was given a boost by around 400 foreign
companies, mostly European and North American, who have come to the region
since the 1980s. The heyday for this inward investment was in the mid 1990s
when the local economy grew at a rate of 5.5%, compared with the UK Average
of 3.9%. Most of these new jobs were in the service industries which employ
around 80% of the South Wales work force.
