Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has played a key role in the successful redevelopment of the former Rates building in Aberdare town centre, helping to secure Welsh Government funding to bring the historic site back into use.
Working with Morris Property Developments Ltd, council officers supported the application for major grant funding which has delivered 10 modern apartments and a new commercial unit on High Street. All apartments have already been let, while Coco’s Coffee and Kitchen has opened its doors in the retail space, expanding its popular Aberdare-based business.
The Grade-2 Listed, early to mid-19th Century building has great historical significance – becoming known more recently as the former Rates building, having been converted into Council offices and used for rates collection in the 1960s by Aberdare Urban District Council. Vacated around 1990, the building became privately-owned and remained empty for 35 years, with its prospects for redevelopment reducing as it fell into disrepair.
However, Morris Property Developments Ltd acquired the building in 2022, and the Council has supported their application to the Transforming Towns Programme towards a major redevelopment of the building. This secured funding has complemented the developer’s own investment into the project.
Local business Coco’s, which is already a popular name within Aberdare Town Centre having operated a coffee and candles shop from Canon Street, has secured the new retail unit at the former Rates building. This has enabled the company to move the café element of its business into larger premises, and allowed its Canon Street branch to build on the success of its in-house manufacture and sales of candles and room fragrance products.
Councillor Mark Norris, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Development and Prosperity, said: “It’s fantastic news that the Council has been able to help this exciting project to happen. The redevelopment has brought a Grade-2 Listed building back into use, having been derelict since around 1990. It’s also provided much-needed homes within the town, enabled a local business to expand and create new local jobs, and contributed to the overall economic regeneration of the town centre.
“Redeveloping and re-using existing buildings for high-quality provisions was a key theme in the Council’s Aberdare Town Centre Strategy, adopted in late 2023 to act as a blueprint for future investment. The former Rates building project has now done just that, adding to the Boot Hotel, the Old Town Hall, and the Black Lion projects that have all brought derelict sites back into use.
“We continue to welcome Welsh Government’s support, via its Transforming Towns Programme, to enable local town centre buildings to thrive again. The programme is currently helping us develop the Tonypandy Town Centre Strategy, along a similar path that we’ve seen in Aberdare and several other towns. It supported key investments like the Pontypridd ‘riverside plaza’ project which is ongoing, and recently-completed works that have provided extra parking at Hannah Street in Porth and revitalised the old bingo hall site in Pontypridd.
“I’d like to thank Morris Property Developments Ltd for their fantastic project to bring the old Aberdare Rates building back into excellent use, and wish their commercial tenants Coco’s Coffee and Kitchen the very best as they expand their business and open the doors of their second premises in Aberdare.”
