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Cllr Jamie Pritchard, a Labour councillor for the Morgan Jones ward, is the deputy leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council. He is also the cabinet member for prosperity, regeneration and climate change.

Nobody is under any illusions when it comes to turning things around for town centres. Whilst the economic situation is tough, people want to know how we can collectively work to support business growth and help bring people back to the high street. If I could summarise the approach, we have recently taken in CCBC, I would say it’s been one of improved business engagement, positivity about our towns and collective working. These three components are critical when it comes to the future of our town centres, so I want to explain why.

In August 2022 we invested in a new town centre team. A fundamental role of the town centre team has been to engage with businesses by having more of a direct relationship with businesses in the town. That means being visible in the town centres. We know local businesses want the best for their town, so that relationship is key to developing on the shared aims the community is keen to develop. We have moved away from a Town Centre Management approach that was dominated by councillors, to a model which puts businesses more at the forefront. 

The relatively new business networking meetings have been operating across Bargoed, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Risca and Ystrad Mynach. They are supported by CCBC, but our approach has not been to take over the whole agenda. Key speakers have instead been invited to give an insight into new, innovative ways to engage the business community. We have decided to invest into new technology in the form of the VZTA app, which is aimed at bringing people together. The aim is to empower the community with information, products, services and support they’re looking for. All five of our principal towns in the county borough are becoming ‘VZTA Smart Towns’.

There was a time when a Chamber of Trade existed in most towns, but we’ve seen such groups dwindle over the decades. However, by bringing businesses together in the new format, and tapping into new forms of business activity, we’re seeing some early signs of breakthrough. Business groups are being set up such as ‘Our Caerphilly’ and competitions arranged by local businesses such as the upcoming Bargoed in Bloom. We need to encourage activity like this in all of our towns by ensuring businesses feel the town centres are not just the responsibility of the council, but where residents, businesses and the local authority have a collective sense of ownership.

We know from the many events we hold in Caerphilly County Borough, the public come on board and support them in their thousands. Record-breaking footfall in town centres has been posted in recent months for some key events. As we move forward with the planning of events, we must recognise the importance of allowing businesses in town centres to thrive by holding more events in town centres. We must also support businesses (such as Crafty Legs Events), who have the potential to grow, to be financially supported to hold events and support other towns. Residents have remarked about keeping up the momentum after successful events, so I’ll be shortly meeting to discuss ways the business community could become more involved in shaping the way we do things.

Physical regeneration is of course important. The Welsh Government has recently reaffirmed their commitment to pursue a Town Centre First policy. They rightly say footfall is key to achieving thriving, successful town centres. For people who live in a town centre will more likely use its shops and institutions. The pursuance of Welsh Government Transforming Towns funding to bring vacant buildings in to residential and retail is another avenue we continue to work on. 

I’m not going to say this job is easy, as it’s often an extremely testing and demanding role. But one thing I’m 100% sure about is residents and businesses want everybody to work together for the betterment of town centres. Improved business engagement, positivity about our towns and collective working is key to success.