National law firm Bevan Brittan has played a lead role on a multi-million pound project to regenerate the old Ebbw Vale steelworks in South Wales.

The firm advised regular client Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust on the development agreement, the property purchase and the warranties and leasing package for the site, which will feature a new £97m state-of-the-art hospital.

The hospital, which is scheduled to open in 2010, will be the first in Wales to be built with single en-suite rooms for every patient.

In addition, the deal, which signed last month (March), will also see the construction of a new training campus, a railway station and a primary school. Work at the site is due to begin this summer.

The high-profile project, which is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and Welsh Health Estates (WHE), marks the first 100% publicly-funded hospital development in England and Wales for many years and is part of a wider £300m regeneration scheme to redevelop the former Corus steelworks at Ebbw Vale.

Caroline Taylor, a partner in Bevan Brittan’s Property, Planning and Construction (PP&C) division, led a team that also included PP&C partner Martin Howe and associate Joanne Sinar.

The instruction comes just weeks after Bevan Brittan also won a coveted place on the Welsh Assembly Government’s new-look external legal panel.

Commenting on the deal, Caroline Taylor said: “We are delighted to be involved in a project that will undoubtedly have such a positive impact on the region.”

She added: “Bevan Brittan played a vital role in ensuring this development would go ahead, which pays testament to the increasing strength and stature of our national Property, Planning and Construction practice.”

Eversheds acted for Blaenau Gwent council on the deal.