A £200,000 environment centre is planned for the site of the former Ebbw Vale steelworks in a bid to preserve and enhance the wildlife living there.

A one-and-a-half acre area on the 200 acre Works site has remained untouched by the demolition and reclamation work and has become a natural oasis for local plants and wildlife.

The area, which is the site of the former pumphouse, was taken over by wildlife after the steelworks closed and is now home to more than 100 plant species, amphibians, reptiles and birds.

In a bid to protect the wildlife The Works project team has submitted plans to Blaenau Gwent council to create a sustainable Environmental Resource Centre (ERC).

Subject to planning permission, the centre, which is part funded by the Heads of the Valleys programme, will be an education centre run by Gwent Wildlife Trust open to the community and schools across the county.

The ERC will be the first building of its kind using the new sustainable Ty Unnos Sitka Spruce construction system, which will see the majority of the work prefabricated off-site.

The frame of the building will be made from locally sourced Welsh softwood and will include a classroom, storage room, kitchen, office and toilet facilities.

Special features will include a bog garden, boardwalks over the ponds and improved access for pond dipping.

The centre, which is expected to be completed by next spring will be the first building to be completed on the site.

The £300m reclamation and redevelopment of The Works, Ebbw Vale, into a sustainable community, is a joint venture between Blaenau Gwent council and the Assembly. Once completed it will include 720 new homes, a community hospital, learning campus, leisure centre and a business centre.