Concerns about what work will be allowed under a Rhayader shopfront scheme, will be discussed at a meeting in the new year
Some 32 properties have signed up to a grant scheme to enhance their shops in Rhayader and have sent in their quotes for work
The work would total an approximate £351,000 if it all got completed with possible grants for about 70 per cent of that value.
But Rhayader councillors were told at a recent meeting that 18 of the business owners want to put in UPVC windows and it is not clear if this would be allowed because of the town’s conservation area.
Town clerk Julie Stephens said only one person wants to put in wood windows and there is a certain nervousness about the scheme.
She said the issue is that business owners would need to put in a planning application for the work and pay for the plastic windows and there is a concern that they may not get planning because of the conservation area status and so they would not be able to get a grant and in theory, if it was enforced, they could be made to take the windows out.
Rhayader Mayor Councillor Christian Walton said he had heard from the head of planning Gwilym Davies and planning officer Gemma Bufton would be available to discuss the situation.
Businesses in the town were invited to a public meeting recently to gauge interest in the scheme.
The scheme, if it goes ahead, would give local businesses the chance to apply for a grant of upto £20,000 to refurbish and enhance their shops.
The work could include repairing, repainting or replacing doors and windows, painting or re-coating facades, repairs to brickwork, masonry or timber, repair or replacement of awnings or shutters and repairs or replacement of signage, lighting or other fixtures.
If the town decides to go ahead the grant application would come under the Transforming Towns grant fund.
The scheme would have to be managed by Rhayader Town Council.
The town council would collate the information from the businesses and pass it onto the county council.
If the county council agree to it, the town council would then put in the bid on behalf of all the businesses and if they got the go-ahead the businesses would have to pay the contractors and then claim the money back and Powys County Council would give the grant money to Rhayader Town Council for them to distribute it to the individual businesses.
It is a two year grant scheme and it ends finally at the end of December 2026.
A total of £4 million has been allocated towards town centre regeneration projects across Mid Wales (Powys and Ceredigion) over the next two years (2025-2027).
Welsh Government has made the award to Powys County Council, working in partnership with Ceredigion County Council, as part of its Transforming Towns programme.
Members agreed to contact Gemma Bufton and ask for a meeting in the new year.
In the meantime, the town clerk will go through all the quotes and firm up the figures and requirements.
