CCBC unveils ambitious £80m ‘Levelling Up’ bids
Posted on : 21 Jun 2022
The longest Alpine rollercoaster in the UK could be built at a popular tourist destination in the Caerphilly county borough, if ambitious plans being drawn up by the council are agreed by the UK Government.
Three exciting regeneration projects totalling £80.6million are set to be submitted to the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund by CCBC. The council’s Cabinet will meet next week (Wednesday 29th June) to consider a report which details the bids and their benefits to the community.
The three proposed bids are:
- A new £33.6million enhanced Leisure Centre on land at Caerphilly Business Park to provide state-of-the-art health and wellbeing facilities to replace the town’s existing leisure centre.
- An ambitious £12million scheme to deliver new and enhanced visitor attractions at Cwmcarn Forest and the nearby canal, including plans for the longest ‘Alpine Coaster’ in the UK.
- A £35million public transport Interchange in the heart of Caerphilly town centre, which will see the redevelopment of the existing station into an exemplar mixed-use transport hub.
Leader of Council, Cllr Sean Morgan said, “If approved, these bids would provide huge benefits in terms of improved health and well-being, better public transport connectivity and enhanced visitor attractions that will help boost the local economy.”
“These exciting proposals demonstrate our vision and ambition to deliver major projects that will regenerate our communities and result in positive change for local residents.”
Cllr Jamie Pritchard, Deputy Leader of Council added, “We have to move as fast as we can to drive the county borough forward. The new Cabinet has been working around the clock on these proposals to ensure we meet the tight deadline for submissions. These projects are big news for the county borough and if Cabinet agrees the bids, they will then be submitted to the UK Government.”
“These bids into the Levelling Up Fund are ambitious, but are fully thought through and developed. We hope the UK Government shares our vision for the county borough.”
“If agreed, the projects would need to be delivered by March 2025, so it is clear that this Levelling Up Funding provides an exciting, but challenging opportunity to secure money to support our ambitious regeneration strategy.”
The UK Government has recently published details on Round 2 of their Levelling Funding (LUF) programme. Wales is expected to receive 5% of the £4.8bn budget which equates to some £240m. To date £120m has already been allocated to Round 1 projects in Wales.