Town Centre Redevelopment

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 22 June 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:18, 22 June 2021

Diolch yn fawr. I thank the Member for that supplementary question. She's right to point to the work that is already under way—major work, Llywydd—£13 million of investment in Neath town centre, £5.5 million of that provided by the Welsh Government, and as well as all the things that the Member pointed to—the swimming pool, the health suite, the library—there will also be new good quality commercial and retail space to try and draw businesses back into that town centre, and to do so with the sort of imagination that we have seen, in many parts of Wales, even during the crisis, where new businesses have opened on high streets. The future of retail cannot be an attempt to create things as they were in the past. The world has moved on, and consumer behaviour has moved on, accelerated in many ways by the pandemic. But nevertheless there are retail businesses that make a very particular offer, that draw people to them and trade successfully, and can—and I'm sure, will—trade successfully in the centre of Neath as well, strengthening that commercial core. And beyond the current investment, we will of course go on talking with that local business community and with the local authority, to see what other opportunities there will be; other funding streams that the Welsh Government will provide over the five years of this term, further to strengthen the essential vitality of Neath town centre that will give it a future and a sense that it goes on being valued by its local citizens and it's a place they want to visit.