Mid Wales town centre to receive makeover

A mid Wales town centre is to see improvements that will add to its appearance after a funding bid submitted to Powys County Council was successful.

Builth Wells Town Council is to receive up to £69,472.08 towards the cost of refurbishing nine business frontages on High Street, Broad Street, Groe Street and Garth Road in Builth Wells.

The funding is being provided in the form of a Welsh Government Placemaking Grant, through its Transforming Towns programme, in this instance, for up to 70% of the total cost.

The town council is working as a facilitator for the scheme, in partnership with the county council.

Pride

Councillor David Selby, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for a More Prosperous Powys said: “We all want our Powys town centres to thrive and get plenty of footfall.

“These improvements will enhance the appearance of Builth Wells’ High Street, and we hope that results in more trade and an added sense of pride.

“This work has been made possible thanks to our five town centre liaison officers who are supporting economic development across the county in 18 towns.”

Builth Wells Town Councillor Mark Hammond added: “The successful bid of nearly £70,000 in funding is a tremendous boost for the town and is hopefully the beginning of a process of making Builth even more appealing for residents and visitors.

“Builth is a unique and vibrant market town, but we need to future-proof it, to ensure that future generations get to enjoy all it has to offer. The Transforming Towns programme is key to making this aspiration a reality.”

Builth Wells Town Council applied for the Placemaking Grant on behalf of the nine businesses. It will not be retaining any of the money, only holding it until paid invoices for the work have been received.

Heritage

The Transforming Towns programme in Mid Wales is supported by Powys and Ceredigion County Councils’ Economic Development and Regeneration Teams.

Transforming Towns is a Welsh Government programme providing £100 million to town centre regeneration in Wales. Town and city centres are an essential and personal part of Welsh heritage and community, and the Transforming Towns programme is dedicated to serving and connecting the people who live, work, learn and spend leisure time in them.

The Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme is focused on supporting the vibrancy of our town centres, developing green infrastructure, enabling job creation, and improving community facilities and access to services. Bringing empty properties back into beneficial use is a central pillar of the programme, and Mid Wales has been allocated £7m since 2022 to deliver town centre Regeneration projects.

The Placemaking Grant is designed to be flexible, and delivered through the local authority, to support smaller scale interventions (up to £250,000 grant) that help improve town centres.