Major investment proposals totalling £231 million have been unveiled by Caerphilly county borough council, signalling an exciting and ambitious blueprint for the whole area in future.

The council has developed a comprehensive ‘Place Shaping’ framework that will set the direction of investment across the area over the next few years.

Residents across the county borough will be encouraged to have their say and help shape the proposals, as they are instrumental in helping to complete the jigsaw to ensure that the council is targeting its investment where it is needed most.

In addition to future investment proposals, the Place Shaping framework also sets out what has been spent over recent years, as well as what is already approved and in the pipeline for the immediate future. The key headline figures are as follows:

£153 million – the amount spent so far between 2017 and 2020 on major investment packages including new school developments, highway improvements including Pwllypant roundabout, council house improvement as part of WHQS and investment in 3G pitches.
£129 million – investment currently underway on agreed projects such as demolition of properties on Hafodyrynys Hill, Chartist Garden housing development, WHQS improvements and leisure facilities including a new running track in Oakdale and additional 3G pitch investment.
£231 million – Planned investment for the future involving a wide range of proposals that will be subject to consultation and engagement with the community as park of the Place Shaping conversation.

The Leader of Council, Cllr Philippa Marsden welcomed the exciting proposals, “In total our communities will benefit from an overall package of investment in excess of £485million, which is a remarkable achievement and clearly shows our commitment to the regeneration and transformation of the county borough. Huge amounts of money are being spent in key areas such as housing, education, highways, transport and leisure with plans to invest even more over the coming years.”

“We have set an ambitious programme of investment for our communities to support them out of the Covid pandemic, providing optimism and resilience for the future. We want to get the community on board and fully engaged in this process, so we will also be outlining ways for residents to get involved over the coming months to have their say and help shape the future of their community.”

This Place Shaping framework will form an important element of the council’s Covid recovery plan, which aims to support local communities as they begin to emerge from the Covid pandemic. It will also bring added socioeconomic benefits in terms of local job creation and supporting the local economy and supply chains etc.

The full Place Shaping report will be considered at a special scrutiny meeting next week ahead of a meeting of Cabinet on 24th February.