£1.32m Investment In Rhyl's High Street

Housing and Regeneration Minister Hannah Blythyn has visited Rhyl to announce more than £1.3m of Welsh Government Targeted Regeneration Investment to revitalise the town centre and see how further investment in the town is paying off.

Denbighshire Council has used the funding along with its own match funding, to buy the former Next and Granite Outdoors stores on the High Street, the adjacent retail unit at 4 Wellington Road and the auction room in St Helen’s Place and will be refurbishing the buildings to create nine residential apartments and four units for small local businesses.

This follows on from the announcement of £2.5m of Welsh Government investment to acquire the Queen’s Buildings, £40m of funding for a new community hospital at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and £900,000 to develop affordable housing in West Rhyl.

Hannah Blythyn said: “We are investing in Rhyl to revitalise the town centre and to help to attract more business investment to support the local economy. This investment will create quality accommodation so people can live, work, shop and socialise in the heart of the town, while also supporting local businesses to grow.

“We have invested significantly in healthcare and regeneration in Rhyl this year because we are committed to revitalising the heart of the town, and to improving the health and wellbeing of people living in the area.

“It’s great to see the scale of development locally, on the High Street and in the Queen’s Buildings. I’m looking forward to seeing how this investment will transform the area.”

Cllr Hugh Evans OBE, leader of Denbighshire County Council, said: “This funding will help the Council and partners deliver the new Rhyl Town Centre Masterplan by introducing new uses into buildings which were previously used exclusively for retailing. It will support the millions of pounds the Council has invested in the town including SC2, which included funding from Rhyl Town Council, as well as our investment in housing and private sector investment.

“This will increase footfall and improve the vitality of the town centre. Residents and visitors can see the success of our work on the waterfront and our focus now is on the regeneration of the town centre.

“The affordable homes will help the Council achieve its target of delivering 260 new affordable homes and 170 additional new Council homes by 2020.”

The Welsh Government’s regeneration strategy will invest £800m across Wales between 2014 and 2023. This includes around £250m from the Welsh Government supported by more than £550m from other organisations and businesses.

The Welsh Government’s flagship Targeted Regeneration Investment programme is providing £100m of capital funding across Wales over three years to support regeneration projects in town centres and neighbouring areas.

This funding is supported by estimated further investment of at least £60 million from other organisations and businesses, providing an overall boost of £160 million to communities all over Wales.

The affordable housing in West Rhyl will be delivered by Denbighshire Housing through the renovation of a terrace at 2-16 Aquarium Street and through a new development on a cleared site at 1-11 John Street, and in partnership with Clwyd Alyn Housing Association through the renovation of properties at 45-47 Water Street and Marine Villa at 1 Crescent Road.