Member of European Parliament for Wales Jill Evans will visit Caerphilly County Borough tomorrow in an effort to help boost tourism.
With more than 80% of Caerphilly County Borough classed as countryside the last 12 months has seen a significant rise in visitor numbers.
Ms Evans, who is also Plaid Cymru president, said: “I will be talking to one of Wales’s most active tourism associations to hear their concerns and discuss ways we can raise the profile of Caerphilly.
“The area has a unique combination of outstanding scenery, tourist and recreational facilities, and superb local produce.
“Caerphilly County Borough Council has got over £2m of European Union funding for local groups and producers from the ‘rural development programme’, and I’m pleased to say they’ve submitted an ambitious programme for the next phase. This will help rural communities, tourism, niche food producers and recreation. I will be lobbying hard on Caerphilly’s behalf.”
Ms Evans has also supported the council in its bid to the Pont programme for support to improve the environmental and biodiversity qualities of our uplands.
During the visit local councillors will express their concerns about the next round of funding when the ‘convergence programme’ runs out in 2013.
Councillor Ron Davies, who is standing for Plaid in Caerphilly at the 2011 Welsh Assembly election, said: “Despite the millions of pounds of aid and the extremely hard work put in to make the best use of it, under the last Labour Government, Wales actually fell further behind in the UK wealth table.
“This is going to get worse under the Con-Dems. Continued European aid is vital but neither Labour nor the Conservatives seem concerned about making the case for Wales.
“A Plaid-led National Assembly will be putting Wales first after next year’s elections and Jill’s visit to Caerphilly County Borough is huge boost for our campaign to make sure we have the tools and resources to do the job.”