A NEW £130,000 lighting installation within the railway tunnel between Broad Street and Hood Road, in Barry, was installed on Wednesday, June 24.

The Vale council has helped establish the new lighting with £100,000 being grant funded and £30,000 derived from the Barry Regeneration fund.

The scheme was commissioned as part of the Barry making Waves initiative, funded by the National lottery Heritage Fund, which aims to celebrate Barry’s sense of place.

The aim of the scheme is to integrate the newly developed waterfront area of Barry with the High Street and Broad Street retail areas.

Despite the distance between the two areas being a short walk, the dark tunnel under the railway was perceived as a barrier, dissuading pedestrians from moving between these two areas.

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Architainment Lighting Ltd, in collaboration with artist Jessica Lloyd Jones, were appointed through an open competitive process to design a new lighting scheme that would transform the tunnel into a bright, welcoming, and engaging space.

The lighting scheme has a number of programmes and settings and is customisable for special days, such as rainbow colours for Pride and red, white and green lighting for St David’s Day.

Vale council deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration and education, Cllr Lis Burnett said she was “thrilled” with the installation.

“This is a wonderful addition to what is quickly becoming one of the most vibrant areas in the Vale of Glamorgan,” she said.

“With the Goods Shed development on one side and High Street and Broad Street on the other, I’m certain local residents will enjoy walking through the tunnel to access the excellent facilities that they have on their doorstep.”

Fay Blakeley, owner of Homemade Wales, in High Street and chairwoman of Barry Place Board, said: “Now that shops are starting to open again, I think it’s really important that we encourage Waterfront residents to explore the whole town whilst they are still going for daily walks.

“With social distancing restricting parking in the shopping areas, it may be an additional incentive for people to take a walk in the area - something we have to encourage as much as possible.”