The realisation of the £700m Cardiff International Sports Village (CISV) has taken a step forward with the signing of development agreements to start civil engineering work.

The £17m civil engineering programme, which entails the construction of roads and other infrastructure, is expected to start before Christmas with an approximate completion date of October 2006.

CISV also announced that an agreement with Morrisons had the retailer on course for delivering a store next October.

Kevin Doyle, development manager at CISV told Leisure Opportunities: “This is a quantum leap forward for this project. I am confident that in the near future, we will also be able to announce that phase one of the waterfront development, including a 50m competition swimming pool, will be able to commence, ahead of a 2007 opening.

“We are also submitting plans for a regional supercasino. While our business plan doesn’t require the casino, we would have to reconsider our options if we didn’t get it.”

Other plans include a snowdome, ice rink, whitewater centre and general purpose arena.