A bid worth £453,000 has been submitted for38 Rhayader businesses keen to enhance their shops

A funding bid worth £453,000 has been submitted on behalf of about 30 businesses keen to enhance their shops in Rhayader.

Some 38 properties have signed up to a grant scheme to enhance their shops and have sent in their quotes for work.

The work would total an approximate £453,000 if it all got completed with possible grants for about 70 per cent of that value.

The bid for the shop frontage improvement scheme is part of the Transforming Towns Grant Scheme

Town clerk Julie Stephens said; “The council has submitted a funding bid on behalf of the business premises.

“Due to the number of premises involved, if the grant bid is successful the Town Council will work with Alan Southerby to prepare and submit a group planning application.

“It will go to a grant panel soon and we should have a final decision by mid-April. If it gets the go-ahead I will look to call a meeting quite quickly to move things on quickly.”

The scheme 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.

The grant application would have to be managed by Rhayader Town Council.

If the county council agree to it, the town council would then put in the planning application 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.

Rhayader County Councillor Angela Davies applauded the town council on taking the scheme forward.

She said: “There has been a fantastic effort by the clerk to get this done. If it goes ahead I will be really pleased. I just think it’s a fabulous bit of collaboration that is going to bring some big improvements to the town.”

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.