Planning permission for a new custom built headquarters in Dafen, Llanelli for Wales Air Ambulance has recently been approved by the Carmarthenshire County Council. The land, near The Beacon, will be developed into the new headquarters, which includes an office, together with a hanger and a helipad for the charity’s helicopter.

Wales Air Ambulance is a charity that delivers emergency and critical care, as well as an Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) which supplies highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the Charity’s vehicles. Their lifesaving service is delivered by air and by road and they have a fleet of four helicopters as well as road vehicles.

The £1.6m construction project was awarded to Hacer Developments of Llandeilo, which covers the office and industrial space. Part of the costs for this development came from a Property Development Grant totalling £700,000. The remainder of the project, comprising the air base, with hanger and helipad, will be funded by public donations raised by the charity.

The grant, administered by Carmarthenshire County Council’s EU programme, provides financial assistance to encourage the construction of new commercial floor space on derelict sites, or the refurbishment of derelict properties. The project’s funding is made up by the European Regional Development Fund through the Wales European Funding Office, Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire County Council.

The new site will offer the Air Ambulance service excellent connections to Morriston Hospital and the M4 motorway which is advantageous for its road vehicles. The new headquarters will benefit Carmarthenshire and the wider community by having all of its facilities together on one site.

Shufflebottom was commissioned by Hacer Property Development & Investment via Kevin Doherty Building Contractors Ltd, to manufacture, paint and erect the steel-framed building space for HQ staff and fundraising team, and manufacture, paint and supply the steel frame and cladding for the helicopter hangar, the airbase for Helimed 57.