Council reveals plans for £1.5m regeneration fund

Anthony Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Playground development, public art, and asset improvements are some of the things a Welsh council plans to spend £1.5m of UK Government funding on.

A report to Merthyr Tydfil’s cabinet on Wednesday, July 15 lays out how the authority plans to spend the funding it has received from the Pride in Place Impact Fund.

Merthyr Tydfil Council has been allocated £1.5 million which needs to be used by March 2027 and the fund focuses on three main things which are community spaces, public spaces and high streets.

The report says that funding may be spent anywhere in the county borough as long as it supports areas most in need and delivers against one or more of the fund objectives,

In approving programme, in January 2026, cabinet agreed to allocate the £1.5 million funding award across two priorities with £750,000 towards public realm and community infrastructure improvements within the southern area of the county borough and £750,000 towards the regeneration and re-development of key heritage assets within Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre.

But since then other funding has been found through the Local Growth Fund (LGF) programme to to towards the re-development of key heritage assets so the Pride in Place Impact Fund allocation originally set aside for this is no longer needed and this £750,000 has been released for a different spend.

The proposal is that this money is now used for a package of capital projects focused on the regeneration, enhancement and long-term sustainability of key community assets and public spaces within and around the county borough particularly Merthyr Tydfil town centre and northern wards.

The report said that to ensure maximum benefit, minimise risk within the programme timescales and maximise community impact, it is proposed that the remaining £750,000 allocation is spent on projects such as playground development, public art and key building and asset improvements.

Launched in September 2025, the UK Government’s Pride in Place Strategy aims to create safer, healthier, and more prosperous neighbourhoods, the cabinet report said.

It added that the broader programme focuses long-term transformation but the Pride in Place Impact Fund is a capital investment programme aimed at restoring local pride, supporting community cohesion, and stimulating economic activity.