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The Caerphilly 2035 masterplan, which aims to revitalise Caerphilly town centre and make it more attractive to visitors, has been praised by the Welsh Government.

The Caerphilly County Borough Council plans includes the new Ffos Caerffili market, which opened earlier this year.

It also includes a new leisure centre and transport interchange for the town, as well as a new visitor centre at Caerphilly Castle.

There are also proposals for 70 apartments in Pentrebane Street and Clive Street.

More than £350,000 of Welsh Government funding has gone into the plans, through its Transforming Towns Programme.

Following a recent tour of Caerphilly’s town centre, the cabinet secretary for local government, Jayne Bryant, said: “Caerphilly is truly a fantastic example of how local authorities can utilise our Transforming Towns Programme to revitalise town and city centres and create a sense of place for their communities.

“Our investment has helped Caerphilly retain a town centre market provision with the opening of Ffos Caerffili, encouraging more footfall and active travel in the area.

“I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to provide full funding for the commissioning of the placemaking plan, which supports so many other worthwhile projects in Caerphilly.”

During her visit to the town, Ms Bryant met with council leader Sean Morgan and deputy leader Jamie Pritchard, who introduced her to the owners of Rosita’s – the new cafe bar set to open at the old Coffi Vista building.

Coffi Vista was controversially closed by the council earlier this year, with the authority tasked with plugging a £45m funding gap over the next two years.

The campaign to save Coffi Vista included a large demonstration outside the premises, and a petition signed by thousands of people.

Cllr Morgan said: “It’s encouraging to see so much positive progress is already being made across a number of projects, and it was great to get the opportunity to showcase some of the developments to the cabinet secretary during her visit.”
 
“We are particularly looking forward to the reopening of the former Coffi Vista site, which will see this key building get a new lease of life in future, without being reliant on public subsidy,” he added.