A new Cardiff rail line, an engineering campus in Ebbw Vale and a cycle route from Llandudno Junction to Betws y Coed have been match funded by the Leveling Up Fund.
Eleven projects in all for Wales will be sharing £208m from the second round of the UK government’s Levelling Up Fund, however not all of the bids were successful.
The fund main agenda is to make rich and poor areas more equal.
PM Rishi Sunak said the aim was to “grow the economy, create good jobs and spread opportunity”.
The Levelling Up Fund focuses on upgrading town centres, transport and improving cultural and heritage assets.
But since voting to leave the E.U the Welsh government said Wales remained over £1.1bn worse off than previous EU schemes to reduce inequality while Plaid Cymru called the way levelling up money had been distributed “arbitrary and ad-hoc”.
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The announcement includes £50m for a new rail line between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Central Station, which is part of a wider scheme to upgrade south Wales’ commuter railway up into St Melons in the East of Cardiff.
There is also £9m for a new engineering campus for 600 young people in Blaenau Gwent and £18.6m to create a cycle route between Llandudno Junction and Betws y Coed in Conwy county.
The other eight projects, which have been listed by the BBC, are:
- £18m to refurbish the Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl
- £20m to build a leisure centre in Caerphilly, including a gym and swimming pool
- £20m to restore and regenerate three industry heritage sites in the lower Swansea Valley including Morfa Copperworks and Swansea Museum
- £18.8m to upgrade walking and cycling routes for the National Slate Museum and the Neuadd Ogwen arts centre in Gwynedd
- £17m for new walkways and cycle paths in Holyhead to help people explore St Cybi’s Church and the Roman Fort
- £11m to restore historic monuments in Ruthin, including St Peter’s Church and the town square
- £17.8m to restore the historic estate in the Vale of Neath and build new walkways and cycle paths
- £7.6m for the Pontypool Cultural Hub project to “transform derelict buildings into a thriving cultural centre” including a new restaurant
Mr Sunak added: “By reaching even more parts of the country than before, we will build a future of optimism and pride in people’s lives and the places they call home.”
His cabinet colleague, Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, said the funding would “regenerate town centres and historic buildings, create new cycle and walking paths through some of our most beautiful countryside, improve facilities for visitors, deliver transport solutions for Cardiff and contribute to the health and future job opportunities for people in the areas involved”.
Swansea Conservatives leader, Cllr Lyndon Jones, welcomed the £20 million coming the city’s way.
He said it was a “big boost”, but added that not all of the city’s bids were accepted and will “need to be re-worked”.
‘Overlooked’
Newport City Council says it’s been “overlooked” in this second round of grants.
The Labour-led authority bid for £20m to fund the introduction of a City of Newport National Technology Institute (NTI).
In a statement made to the BBC, the Newport Labour group said: “We are hugely disappointed that the Conservative government in Westminster has, once again, overlooked a bid from Newport.
“We believe in Newport, and we will continue to fight for, and do our best for our city and those most in need even in the toughest of times.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council said she was “disappointed” after hearing that Barry had missed out on funding for a new water sports facility at Barry Waterfront and a new marina at the site known as The Mole.
Lis Burnett, said: “We are naturally disappointed in the decision.
“We know that our bid was strong and would have delivered significant community and economic benefits for Barry.”
‘Delayed, chaotic process’
There was criticism of UK ministers’ entire approach from the Welsh government, with a spokesperson saying: “Wales now has less say over less money and every decision on levelling up funding for local projects has been taken in Whitehall.
“The delayed, chaotic process is now costing jobs and other much-needed projects are being missed as a result of the lost funds.
“Today’s news does not come close to meeting the funding promised by UK ministers in 2019.”
Ceredigion MP Ben Lake, who speaks for Plaid Cymru on Treasury matters, agreed that Wales was receiving much less cash than it had under previous EU schemes, and called the way the levelling up money had been distributed “arbitrary and ad-hoc”.
“Ceredigion is among 11 Welsh local authorities that do not receive a penny in today’s ‘levelling up’ round,” he said.
“The fact that many of the areas that have been left out today are those in most need of ‘levelling up’, whilst some of the beneficiaries are among the wealthier areas of the UK, casts serious doubt over the appropriateness of the methodology used to allocate the funding.”
Boost to economy
However, CBI Wales – which represents businesses in Wales – has welcomed the funding announcement.
Director Ian Price said: “The Levelling Up funding will boost the local economy and the potential for growth and jobs creation.”
In particular, Mr Price praised the investment into a new railway line in Cardiff.