Questions have been raised about the environmental impact of building the new indoor arena in Swansea, but the council said steps were taken to lessen it. Former Swansea councillor Ioan Richard asked the authority about the amount of concrete and steel used in its construction, both of which have a high carbon footprint.
His Freedom of Information request also asked about the grade of concrete used in the Swansea Arena, and how much low-carbon concrete the council demanded for its own building maintenance schemes. The authority said in response that an estimated 6,135 cubic metres of concrete of different strengths was used for the new arena, around half for piling. It said it no low-carbon concrete was used by the council for its own building maintenance schemes.
Mr Richard said he felt the council could have demanded that some low-carbon concrete was used for the arena when it granted planning permission for the scheme. In his view the council, which paying for most of the project, hadn't "practised what it preaches" given its climate pledges.
