Funding worth around £17.7 million has been awarded to establish Neath as a major heritage and natural environment led visitor destination this week, after a successful bid to the UK Government’s Levelling Up programme.
The bid which came from Neath Port Talbot Council will focus on two destinations in Neath, at Gnoll Estate Country Park and Waterfall Country Pontneddfechan, and will look to emphasise what they describe as "the area's heritage and the great outdoors."
At Gnoll Estate Country Park, the project aims to restore existing heritage features as well as developing on-site visitor accommodation. The funds will also go towards modernising the visitor centre and café, improving physical links with a neighbouring woodland site, and conserving important heritage features including the Gnoll House cellars and cascades.
Read more: Neath Port Talbot Council faces £23m budget gap
The Waterfall Country Pontneddfechan visitor infrastructure will also benefit from a portion of the funding with the creation of a bunkhouse style visitor accommodation and visitor hub gateway building, which features a public toilet, and farm/village shop in the area.
There will also be work to enhance ‘a sense of arrival’ in the village square as well as better parking facilities with formal and overflow parking, coach and minibus parking, alongside EV charging facilities.
Cllr Alun Llewellyn said: "This bid recognises the huge potential of the Neath Valley and and will be part of our Valleys and Villages strategy which will identify opportunities for economic, social and environmental improvements for all our valleys in the future."
Cllr Martyn Peters added: "This council’s Rainbow Coalition has made it a priority to create a better look for our towns, valleys and villages and to boost jobs and the economy. This huge investment will go a long way to delivering some of that.
"These two projects are aligned in terms of delivering an overall vision to create a market-led sustainable destination in the Vale of Neath that builds on the key strengths and qualities of the Vale of Neath, its built heritage, natural environment and accessibility."
The Levelling Up programme was announced by the UK Government in 2019, and aims to spread opportunity more equally across the UK. It also looks to support cultural investment, such as helping to maintain and regenerate museums, galleries, visitor attractions and other heritage assets.
A total of 11 projects in Wales were allocated over £208 million from round two of the funding pot, with other successful bids including Cardiff Crossrail, a new engineering campus in Blaenau Gwent, and new cycle routes through Conwy Valley. You can read more of our stories from Neath Port Talbot here, or subscribe to our newsletter here.
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