The Council is delighted that its proposal to the UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme has now been approved, having put communities within the Rhondda Fach forward for significant investment. It means funding of up to £20 million will be made available over 10 years, to focus on regeneration projects across neighbourhoods in Tylorstown, Maerdy, Ferndale, Ynyshir and Wattstown.
The UK Government has launched two programmes under its Pride in Place Strategy – an Impact Fund that represents short-term, £1.5 million funding to address issues that matter locally, and a larger £20 million Pride in Place Programme that targets transformation over the longer term. In December, the Council’s Cabinet discussed proposals for both programmes – agreeing for the Impact Fund to be targeted to town centres and community organisations across the whole of Rhondda Cynon Taf.
For the Pride in Place Programme, Local Authorities were required to select a defined neighbourhood for consideration for the investment. Cabinet endorsed officer proposals to put the Rhondda Fach forward as an area that best fitted the fund’s criteria for selection. The Council subsequently submitted its proposal to the UK Government’s Wales Office before the deadline in January 2026, and has now received confirmation that this area has been accepted.
In putting forward a neighbourhood to be the focus of this investment, the Council had to demonstrate the area has a significant socio-economic need – and in doing so, drew on data from the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. Full details about all such considerations, and the rationale for putting forward areas in the Rhondda Fach, are included in December’s Cabinet report.
The programme will allocate £2 million per year for 10 years – and importantly there will be a dedicated structure to agree on how the funding is best spent. A Neighbourhood Board will be formed, which will include local residents as members, and it will be responsible for producing a 10-year vision for the area. This will be supported by a Regeneration Plan in partnership with the Council, which will appoint an independent chair to provide leadership for the Board, act as a champion for the area, and ensure decisions are community-led.
Key upcoming steps in the process will include forming the membership of the Neighbourhood Board to be confirmed during summer 2026, along with any proposed revisions to the area boundary. This will then be reviewed by the UK Government by autumn 2026.
The Neighbourhood Board will then submit its Regeneration Plan in winter 2026/27 for assessment. Once approved with a target date of spring 2027, the first funding payment will be made to the Council to enable the start of the delivery phase.
Councillor Mark Norris, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, said: “It’s fantastic news that the Council’s proposal to the UK Government has now been formally accepted, for the communities of Tylorstown, Maerdy, Ferndale, Ynyshir and Wattstown, to be the recipient of this major Pride in Place investment over the next 10 years. The decision will enable us to move onto the next part of the process, and is an important milestone towards the first funding being available for delivery from spring 2027.
“One of the next main steps will be to form a Neighbourhood Board, which will be the mechanism through which all decisions relating to this funding will be made. The Council will support the Board to create a Regeneration Plan for the Rhondda Fach, which will identify how and where the funding can be best spent to maximise the benefits, outlining local projects and initiatives to be developed. An important part of all decision-making will be that it is led by residents at every step of the way – including community representatives being active members of the Board.
“This funding complements the Council’s own major Regeneration investment across the County Borough. In recent years, we’ve implemented town centre strategies as blueprints for investment in Mountain Ash, Aberdare, Pontypridd, Porth and – most recently in February 2026 – Tonypandy. We also continue to develop and deliver large infrastructure investments, with the ‘riverside plaza’ development in Pontypridd Town Centre entering its final stages, and the Rock Grounds development in Aberdare due to start on site later this year. In the Rhondda Fach, the Pride in Place investment will follow the major new active travel route, from Maerdy to Tylorstown, which is currently in its final phase of construction – opening up the whole of the valley for walkers and cyclists.
“We’re very thankful to the UK Government for its Pride in Place investment. Before Christmas, Cabinet agreed to target the Impact Fund towards our town centres – investing £1.5 million over the next two years, and building upon the excellent progress we’ve already achieved under the Shared Prosperity Fund. The separate Rhondda Fach programme will make a huge difference to local communities over the 10 years of investment. The Council will keep residents informed at key points of the process, including all major decision making.”
Posted on 10/02/2026