Council saves over £1 million on new market thanks to European grant

Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter

A council has revealed it has effectively saved more than £1 million on a container-style market thanks to a new European grant, its deputy leader has confirmed.

Caerphilly Council’s deputy leader Jamie Pritchard said the grant that would effectively reduce the council’s own spending on the project to around £150,000.

The Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) grant, worth £2m, will also reduce the amount sought from the Welsh Government by nearly half.

Ffos Caerffili is expected to open in April following a succession of delays.

Flagship project

The market will include 28 independent traders and is one of the flagship projects for the council’s Caerphilly 2035 regeneration scheme.

Cllr Pritchard, who is also the cabinet member for regeneration, said the local authority had “meticulously explored” external funding opportunities to ease the financial burden on the council.

“This successful funding bid will add to the creation of 40 to 50 jobs and develop opportunities for new and existing businesses to expand,” he said. “As we stand, the council’s core element of funding comes in at just 3% of the total costs for the project.

“The rest has been secured by the effective use of grant bids to the Welsh Government, UK Government and now WEFO.

“In the case of the latter, we have made sure money is not being sent back to Brussels, but delivered here in Caerphilly.”

Core contribution

Some £1.1m of the WEFO grant will be used to reduce the council’s core contribution to £150,000, and the remainder will reduce the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns contribution from £2.09m to £1.19m.

It is expected that the money “saved” will be put towards spending on other parts of the Caerphilly 2035 regeneration project.