article: The £433m motor racing track and leisure project aimed to create up to 6,000 jobs in a deprived area. But Economy Secretary Ken Skates said job claims were "overstated" and there was too much financial risk. The developers "strongly disagreed" with the decision and the rationale behind it. Ministers said a £100m automotive business park would be built instead. First Minister Carwyn Jones said backing the scheme would mean schools and homes would not be built. The project, first unveiled in 2011, has been dogged by controversy. Its backers - the Heads of the Valleys Development Company (HoVDC) - had wanted the Welsh Government to underwrite 80% of the cost, revised down to about 50% when ministers asked for a rethink. Alongside the circuit itself, which would have hosted the British leg of the MotoGP for at least five years, there were also plans to bring BMX and mountain biking, indoor skiing and concerts. The issue of the guarantee meant the Welsh Government would have received £99m over 33 years in exchange for underwriting the project once it was open for business. But in the event of it failing, the public purse would have to pay back £210m over time, while backers Aviva would keep the circuit and the infrastructure. But Mr Skates said on Tuesday the cost of the underwriting was still too high and would have had an impact on ministers' other spending plans. He said after discussions with Treasury officials and the Office for National Statistics, it appeared there was a "very significant risk" that the full £373m debt of the project would be classified against Welsh Government capital spending. Mr Skates added that the true figure on employment was about 100 direct jobs, with 500 indirect jobs and about 500 construction jobs while the track was being built. Later, during First Minister's Questions, Mr Jones said providing the funding guarantees would have meant his government "would lose £373m of capital funding, £173m would have to be found this financial year". He told AMs: "That is schools not being built. Hospitals not being modernised. Houses not being built." Blaenau Gwent council leader Nigel Daniels said he was disappointed with the decision but understood the complex issues involved. He welcomed the £100m investment in a new automotive technology park. But Mr Daniels said he would be "seeking urgent meetings with Welsh Government and other parties to explore other options that can be brought forward to mitigate the impact of this decision given the level of expectation which has grown in the community over the last few years". UKIP assembly group leader Neil Hamilton said it was a "bean-counters convention". "What we need to do here is change the accounting convention rather than to destroy the hopes of those who relying on regenerating the whole of south east Wales," he said. Plaid Cymru finance spokesman Adam Price said it was a "shocking indictment" of ministers that they had "taken seven years and over £9m of public money" to turn down "the single biggest private investment proposal in the history of Wales".
summary: A plea by developers of the Circuit of Wales in Ebbw Vale for £210m in taxpayer-funded guarantees has been rejected by the Welsh Government.