Cabinet has considered and agreed a new three-year capital programme which includes a further £7.1m investment in Council priority areas – targeted across highway maintenance, unadopted roads, drainage, structures, parks, green spaces and play areas.
At their meeting on Tuesday, February 28, Cabinet considered a report outlining the new three-year capital programme, which will invest £187.32m between 2023/24 and 2025/26. Members have agreed to recommend that Full Council agrees the new capital programme at its meeting in March 2023.
The three-year programme includes a fully-funded core capital programme of £42.5m, major funding to support the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme and highway improvements, specific grants, and the use of reserves that have already been allocated to schemes.
The report noted the availability of further funding set aside for Investment and Infrastructure, which can be directed towards helping to maintain and enhance infrastructure in Rhondda Cynon Taf. A one-off £7.1m investment, which is extra funding on top of core capital budgets, is proposed from these funds for specific priority areas next year (2023/24):
- Highways maintenance (£2.5m)
- Unadopted roads (£300,000)
- Highways structures (£2.4m)
- Drainage (£500,000)
- Parks structures (£250,000)
- Parks and green spaces (£750,000)
- Play areas (£200,000)
- Multi-Use Games Areas, MUGAs (£200,000).
Councillor Andrew Morgan OBE, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Investment, said: “Cabinet has now agreed an additional £7.1m investment of extra funding for key priority areas for next year. This money is over and above the core capital budgets for these priority areas, providing them with a boost. The proposed investment will now be considered by Full Council on March 8.
“The Council has been able to bring forward capital investments of this nature on a number of occasions in recent years, allocating around £146m in extra resources since October 2015.
“I’m pleased that significant funding is allocated towards our accelerated road maintenance programme, to continue to reduce the percentage of A, B and C roads in need of repair. In addition, important funding has been identified for structures that support our road network, with the Council responsible for maintaining around 1,500 walls, bridges and culverts in the County Borough.
“Important funding is also earmarked to further extend our Unadopted Roads programme, which is improving privately-owned roads that have not been maintained to an acceptable standard. The programme has identified 23 schemes so far – and the proposed new funding will allow more locations to be included as part of next year’s Highways Capital Programme.
“Finally, I’m pleased that £1m is allocated across parks, green spaces and park structures, which will help maintain and improve our outdoor spaces which are much-valued by residents and visitors. The £200,000 allocation for children’s play areas will continue our major investment in this area, with 100 facilities improved for our young people over the past seven years – while a similar investment is earmarked for MUGAs, following our announcement in October 2022 that new facilities will be provided for Penygraig and Graig.”
