Cardiff Bay Barrage - History

History

The origin of the scheme dates back to a visit by the then Secretary of State for Wales Nicholas Edwards Conservative MP for Pembrokeshire to the largely-derelict Cardiff docklands in the early 1980s. An avid opera enthusiast, Edwards envisaged a scheme to revitalise the area incorporating new homes, shops, restaurants and, as a centrepiece, an opera house at the waterside. However the tidal nature of Cardiff Bay, exposing - as it did - extensive mudflats save for two hours either side of high water - was seen as aesthetically unappealing.

Edwards credited the solution to this perceived problem to a Welsh Office civil servant, Freddie Watson. Watson proposed building a barrage stretching across the mouth of Cardiff Bay from Cardiff Docks to Penarth which would impound freshwater from the rivers Ely and Taff to create a large freshwater lake - thus providing permanent high-water. By making the area more appealing it was hoped this would attract investment into the docklands. The barrage was consequently seen as central to the regeneration project. In 1987, prior to approval of the construction of the barrage, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was established to proceed with redeveloping the docklands - an area comprising one sixth of the entire area of the city of Cardiff.

In November 1999 the barrage was completed and the sluice gates closed at high water to retain the seawater from the Bristol Channel within the 500-acre bay.