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One hundred thousand pounds of public money will be spent promoting Caerphilly County Borough Council’s regeneration masterplan, known as Caerphilly 2035.

Cowshed Communications is being paid to run the council’s public relations (PR) for Caerphilly 2035, despite the council having an in-house communications team of 16 employees.

Caerphilly 2035 includes a range of proposals that will see the town benefit from “multi-million pounds worth of investment” – including the new container-style market, transport interchange, and a boutique hotel on Cardiff Road.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed the £100,000 will pay for a two-year contract with the communications company, which will end in December 2024.

The money will come from Caerphilly’s placemaking funds, and 50% will be match-funded by the Welsh Government.

A council spokesperson said Cowshed Communication’s role is “much wider” than PR and the task is broader than what the in-house communications team can provide.

The spokesperson added that the communications company is also supporting Welsh Government, Cadw, Transport for Wales and Linc Cymru as part of the Caerphilly 2035 contract.