Exciting developments are taking place across Rhyl town centre as projects, backed by the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns fund and delivered in partnership with Denbighshire Council, take shape.
Transforming Towns is supporting work to the value of nearly £25m within Rhyl town centre, improving and adapting underutilised commercial and residential property.
Minister for North Wales Lesley Griffiths visited some of the projects in the town centre including the site of the Queen’s Market where the old derelict building has been demolished and work is set to begin on a new facility. This will include a new indoor market hall to include hot food kiosks, permanent and temporary market stalls and an event space. It will also help revitalise an underutilised part of the town.
The Minister saw some of the areas planned for development in the High Street, including the renovation of three properties to provide small business spaces on the ground floor and intermediate housing units on the upper floors.
A completed project is Costigan’s, the former public house, which now provides modern, high-quality and flexible business accommodation, as well as a small café space.
The Minister said: “It has been great to see what is happening here in Rhyl. We know our town centres have had a very challenging time and revitalising them is a priority for us. We have a town centre first policy which means town centres should be the first consideration for all decisions on the location of workplaces and services. The sustainable regeneration of our towns is therefore linked to investments we make across government particularly in transport, housing, schools and the economy.
“We want town centres such as Rhyl to be thriving places where people live, work, shop and enjoy leisure activities. I have seen today how formerly derelict buildings have been transformed into business spaces, and how more spaces on the High Street will become places to live and work. This will bring new life to the town centre.
“I look forward to seeing the further developments in the town come to fruition and the impact they will have.”
Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader of Denbighshire County Council, said: “We’ve seen some significant funding invested in the leisure and hospitality sectors along the promenade and projects are still on-going in the town centre, most notably the Queen’s Building development.
“Our vision is to create a modern, distinctive seaside town that meets the needs of its community and gives people from in and outside Rhyl a reason to visit. Residents and businesses are already capitalising on the opportunities that the Rhyl Regeneration project has given them but we will continue to work together with partners and the local community to make the full vision a reality.”
The Minister was visiting on the day she also chaired the North Wales Cabinet Sub-Committee which has a particular focus on the region.
Since March 2020, £136million has been provided to local authorities throughout Wales with an additional £100million committed for 2022-2025, for the revitalisation and the sustainable growth of our towns through: reuse of derelict buildings; increasing the diversity of services in towns; creation of green space and improved access. Rhyl has been prioritised as one of the key towns/cities across North Wales to benefit from Transforming Towns funding
