Regeneration project’s £2 million boost for local shopping centres in Cardiff

District centres in Cardiff will see a £2 million boost in a major regeneration project over the next few years.

Local shopping centres like Cowbridge Road East in Canton, Broadway and Clifton Street in Adamsdown, and City Road in Roath are all earmarked for regeneration schemes.

Cardiff council is currently working on a huge project on Tudor Street in Riverside, with similar work planned for other district centres elsewhere in the city.

As part of the council’s upcoming budget proposals, £2 million has been allocated over the next five years for district centre regeneration projects, including £250,000 next year.

Rebecca Hooper, operational manager for neighbourhood regeneration, said: “We have a pipeline of work on district and local centres. We’re currently working on Tudor Street in Riverside, and we’re starting some initial feasibility work on Cowbridge Road East.”

She told councillors on the economy and culture scrutiny committee about the plans during a meeting on Monday, February 21. She added problems with the Tudor Street scheme would hopefully be avoided in future district centre regeneration schemes.

Tudor Street has seen huge changes in recent months, with shop fronts repainted and the road layout redesigned, and a new cycling ramp is also being installed. However the work has run over budget and has caused major traffic disruption, particularly around the Clare Road junction.

The council’s neighbourhood regeneration team will work through a rolling programme of district centres, as well as working with the transport department to improve cycling links. Questions were raised by the scrutiny committee on how future problems could be avoided.

Unexpected costs

Councillor Iona Gordon, representing Riverside, said: “In Tudor Street, we’ve had unexpected costs because of the conditions of the buildings, where the shop fronts are being regenerated, which weren’t expected to be quite so bad. What contingency is there you have learned from Tudor Street, which you’ll put in your future planning?”

Ms Hooper said the disruption and extra costs were due to the pandemic and Brexit.

She said: “The way Tudor Street has played out, primarily as a result of Covid, isn’t something I would wish to do again. We never like to cause such significant disruption to a street at one time. We have struggled with that.

“The extra costs that we’ve incurred haven’t been related to the properties, it’s been more about the phasing of the work and the impact of inflated material costs as a result of Brexit along with labour shortages in the construction industry.”

The council’s budget proposals include £250,000 next year for district centre regeneration, and then £450,000 annually for the following four years. Councillors will vote whether to approve the budget during a meeting on March 3.