Almost £80 million of public money has been spent on villages across Caerphilly County Borough, the council has revealed.
The sum, revealed in a council report and spanning ten years has gone on regeneration projects.
Cllr Ron Davies, cabinet member for regeneration said: “Communities across the whole area have been transformed over recent years thanks to the success of our ongoing regeneration strategy. It’s good to see that it’s not just our town centres that are benefiting and investment is being used in the heart of the community at grass roots level.
“Although we are facing difficult economic times at the moment, we will continue to work hard to secure funding for the future and ensure we can build on our success and bring even more benefits to local communities.”
Since 2001 more than £50m has been invested in the Upper Rhymney Valley. The investment includes funding for projects such as the Renewal Area Programme in Rhymney, Parc Cwm Darran in Deri and the White Rose development in New Tredegar.
In addition to this, almost £27m has been invested in communities throughout the rest of the county borough. This includes funding for a number of projects such as the Gelligaer Village Square and Roman Fort and Cydcoed in Gelligaer and Penybryn; large scale works at Crosskeys and Pontywaun, Renewal Area improvements in Llanbradach and Senghenydd and the Senghenydd Square developments.
The majority of the funding has come from the Welsh Government, Europe and the council itself.
Major sources such as Communities First and Heads of the Valleys funding are being used to help supports the most deprived communities in Wales. A consultation is currently being undertaken to shape the future direction of the Communities First programme.
Most of the physical regeneration projects have been undertaken by CCBC, GAVO, and Groundwork Caerphilly.