KILVEY HILL: Five weeks of piling at Landore, eight weeks of summit groundworks, and no more paths to close, Skyline says

Skyline Swansea has set out what the next two months of construction on Kilvey Hill will look like, with piling now under way at both ends of the gondola line and groundworks started for the restaurant and cafe at the summit.

For people who use the hill, the company’s headline is that no further walking trails are expected to close during this stage, though more fencing, more vehicles and contractors in new areas will be visible from the diverted paths.

Landore: five weeks of piling, parking still squeezed

At the bottom of the route, piling for the gondola base station has started at Landore Park and Ride, inside the hoarded compound there and at the Hafod Copperworks site.

Skyline expects it to take about five weeks, running 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. The park and ride stays open, but the company says parking capacity “remains reduced” while the work goes on, as it has been since diggers moved in there in the spring.

The gondola route: six more weeks of felling, and towers going in

Up the hill, tree clearance along the gondola corridor is expected to continue for roughly six weeks within the approved boundary, with piling for the gondola towers happening at the same time.

Skyline says the work follows its ecological and environmental requirements, and that visitors “may see additional fencing going up along the gondola route” from the diverted paths.

The felling has been the most visible phase of the project so far, with Skyline committed to replacing the conifers with native broadleaf woodland, a change Natural Resources Wales had already planned for the hill before the attraction was approved.

The summit: eight weeks of groundworks for the restaurant

At the top, groundworks have begun for the restaurant and cafe that will sit beside the gondola’s summit station, expected to take about eight weeks. Skyline says people using the hill may notice more construction traffic on the access route, but does not expect extra disruption for nearby residents.

Drainage basins and swales are being built across the site with local ecologists, the company says, to manage water run-off as construction progresses.

New signs on the diverted paths

New signage is going up along the diverted and informal paths, which Skyline says was designed with the local community, and an updated access map is on the company’s website. The map shows the construction zone running from the summit down the western flank towards the river, with closed paths marked and a temporary relocation of the public right of way on the eastern side.

Footpath diversions have been in place since late June, when the first earthworks began near the summit, with marshalled crossings where paths meet active work.

Jobs, but not until 2028

Skyline says the finished attraction will employ more than 100 people across guest experience, hospitality, engineering, maintenance and management, and has opened a register of interest on its website. Recruitment has not started; it expects applications to open in early 2028.

The £49m cable car and luge scheme formally began construction in May with Swansea Council’s planning approval and funding behind it, and has drawn sustained opposition, from demonstrations on the hill to questions in the Senedd. The council has declined to say what its worst-case losses would be if the project failed, with its committed costs at £10.2m.

Questions about the works can be sent to Swansea.development@skylineluge.com, Skyline says, though it is not taking supplier or job enquiries through that address.