8. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: Town Centres: Securing their future

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:07 pm on 29 September 2020.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 5:07, 29 September 2020

Thank you, acting Llywydd. Minister, Pontypridd is one of those classic examples of a town that was regenerating with Welsh Government and local council support: the new buildings; Transport for Wales being based there; the new bridge over, connecting with Ynysangharad Park; and the bingo hall, which has been acquired now by RCT to be developed. Of course, then we had the flooding. And then as we recovered from the flooding, we had COVID. So, it has been a very, very difficult time for a town that was really on the cusp of regeneration.

Now, we're getting back to looking at that again. There are two aspects that I'd really like your comments on. The first one is that change in habits: people cooking more fresh food, et cetera, during COVID period. There's a fantastic market in Pontypridd. What can we do to actually specifically support those venues, those businesses that are providing fresh, local produce to our community? Because I think there's an opportunity to really regenerate interest.

And the other one is that our towns should become centres of culture as well. In Pontypridd, we have Clwb y Bont, which is a Welsh language centre, very badly affected by flooding, but real opportunities to develop the arts, music, culture, Welsh language venues and so on, and too many of our grants are in silos. I think we have to start connecting these together to actually provide a broad vision for a town: cultural produce, natural produce, and also the regeneration of businesses and offices and so on. What sort of support is there for that, and what additional support could be given to organisations like Pontypridd business improvement district in the town, who've done so much to pull it together, but with additional resources could really make an even greater impact than they are at the moment?