AS ther Welsh Government announces it will not back the Circuit of Wales, we look back at how the plans for a racetrack in Ebbw Vale developed.

  • November 2011: The Circuit of Wales is unveiled. Plans are submitted to Blaenau Gwent Council, with an aim of starting building work in 2013. Some environmental groups, including Gwent Wildlife Trust, state their opposition to the plan.
  • October 2012: The Welsh Government handed the Heads of the Valleys Development Company a £2 million grant. Of this, £300,000 is used to buy Buckinghamshire-based chassis firm FTR Moto.
  • July 2013: Blaenau Gwent Council grant the project planning permission.
  • August 2013: The Welsh Government puts the brakes on the project, saying the planning permission needs closer examination. Construction set to begin towards the end of the year and be complete by 2015 or 2016.
  • March 2014: Developers Heads of the Valleys Development Company say £50 million of public investment is needed in the project.
  • July 2014: Then-environment minister and Blaenau Gwent AM Alun Davies is found to have broken his ministerial code after he lobbied Natural Resources Wales in favour of the racetrack. He is sacked as a minister but remains an AM. The Welsh Government agrees to guarantee a bank loan to enable the Heads of the Valleys to pay suppliers. 
  • August 2014: A contract is singed to host the motorcycle Grand Prix at the site from 2015 until 2019, with a possible extension to 2024. But it later emerged the circuit would not be ready for the 2015 event and an alternative venue of Donington Park in Leicestershire was chosen.
  • Feb 2015: Donington Park announced that they would not be able to host the 2015 British MotoGP due to not having received payment by Circuit of Wales backers. Silverstone announced as the new host for 2015 and 2016.
  • March 2015: A 10-day public inquiry is held to determine whether the 650 acres of common land needed to build the circuit should be deregistered.
  • November 2015: The Welsh Government agrees to deregister the land. Environmental organisations call it a "black day".
  • April 2016: Welsh economy minister Edwina Hart announces the government cannot underwrite the whole 100 per cent demanded by Aviva Investors. Aviva would not guarantee even 20 per cent.
  • May 2016: The Welsh Government is forced to pay Heads the Valleys' bank £7.34 million after it defaults on its loans.
  • July 2016: The Welsh Government refuses a second application, which would have required £234 million of public investment.
  • October 2016: FTR Moto goes into administration with debts of £500,000.
  • Feb 2017: A third bid, which apparently meets the Welsh Government’s demands to require no more than 50 per cent of the scheme’s funding to be guaranteed by the public, is submitted.
  • April 2017: A Wales Audit Office report criticises the Welsh Government for the way it monitored how the £2 million grant was used.
  • June 2017: Ken Skates announces a decision will be made by the end of the month.
  • June 27 2017: Ken Skates announces Welsh Government will not back the scheme.