Regenerating the Northern Valleys

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 3 March 2020.

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Photo of Hefin David Hefin David Labour 1:37, 3 March 2020

And with that in mind, I'm pleased to say that Caerphilly County Borough Council have produced their Heads of the Valleys regeneration area masterplan, which will tackle challenges of growth and prosperity in the northern Valleys, in areas like Bargoed, Nelson, Senghenydd, and those places that are hard to reach. They make reference in their report to the Cardiff capital region city deal, the south Wales metro, and the Valleys taskforce, all of which must link in. And Caerphilly council have also set aside £24.5 million of reserves for capital projects. All of these things should connect together with Welsh Government policy to ensure that places like Bargoed and Rhymney can be strategic hubs in the future for growth and development, so that people are travelling north to work, and not just south to work. How can the First Minister support that? What dialogue has he had with Caerphilly council with regard to their masterplan, and what future plans will the Welsh Government have to fit in with this ambitious growth that Caerphilly council has?