Aberavon Beach (Welsh: Traeth Aberafan), also known as Aberavon Sands, is a three-mile (5 km) stretch of sandy beach on the north-eastern edge of Swansea Bay in Port Talbot, Wales. With its high breaker waves, it is popular with surfers.[1] Aberavon Beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007 and features in the Good Beach Guide published by the Marine Conservation Society.[2]
A traditional "bucket and spade" resort for the South Wales Valleys during the 1940s, '50s and '60s, Aberavon Beach was once an area of sand dunes known as Aberavon Burrows.[3] Changing economic and social conditions led to the decline of the resort, but in 1998 the local authority published a strategy to improve the physical environment of the area and increase tourism. New facilities completed since then have included an amphitheatre, piazza and skateboard park,[4] while a six-screen Reel Cinema opened next to the Afan Lido as part of a development called "Hollywood Park". However, associated plans for a bowling alley have failed to progress and restaurant franchises on the site have struggled, leading one businessman to claim that the seafront regeneration scheme has been a "white elephant".[5] The beachfront also houses a hotel and a small number of cafes, bars and restaurants.
Concerns have been expressed about coastal erosion affecting Aberavon Beach and various other beaches in Swansea Bay.[6]
- ^ "BBC - South West Wales Surfing – Aberavon Beach Guide".
- ^ "Near you - Marine Conservation Society". www.mcsuk.org.
- ^ Old Maps – 1884 Glamorganshire Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Renewed Blue Flag for Aberavon Beach » Swansea Bay news information - live, work, study, invest". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ WalesOnline (5 March 2009). "Is Aberavon's Hollywood Park a white elephant?". walesonline.
- ^ Sustainable Development Commission (2007), Research Report 4 – Severn non-barrage options.