THE Assembly's announcement of a £35m investment for a school and leisure centre for Ebbw Vale is fantastic news for the area.

The money comes from a fund set up to cater for projects considered of strategic importance.

We couldn't agree more that a new school and a new leisure centre for the north Gwent town satisfy such criteria.

The developments will form part of the wider project to breathe new life into the vast pocket of industrial land vacated after the closure of the steelworks.

But of course the construction of both the school buildings and the leisure facility will create jobs and that has to be good news for Blaenau Gwent.