TORFAEN council has agreed to pay £250,000 towards a plan to create a Medi Park – a high tech health and life sciences hub – near the Grange University Hospital - but it is unclear if the Welsh Government will contribute too.

Torfaen County Borough Council and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board had already agreed to put a plan to Welsh Government to determine if it is worth pursuing.

This business case stage will cost around £827,000. Alongside the requested £250,000 to go towards the business case from Torfaen council, the Welsh Government has been asked to contribute £377,000 and the health board £200,000.

In the meeting, cabinet members heard that the Welsh Government are yet to award their funding.

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If a decision isn’t made imminently then it will be delayed until after the May Senedd elections when a new cabinet has been approved.

Meetings have been set up between the council and the health board for that eventuality, but it could result in delays and a phased approach in the business plan.

The park would include a new office, research and development, and high-quality production space close to the hospital.

More than 140 jobs could be created if the project was to go ahead.

The main aim of the project is to develop links between such businesses – including the likes of medical and biomedical technology, and pharmaceuticals – and the NHS in Wales, alongside quality job and business opportunities.

The project also benefits from a masterplan, which has been named the Llanfrechfa Grange Campus, to ensure the Medi Park could be developed while protecting the land for future health and residential developments near the hospital.

In February this year, the Medi Park’s steering board met in February 2021 and recommended to progress to the outline business case.