Visionary development
WITH works to the new Pontypridd precinct site beginning earlier this month, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s flagship scheme is set to give the town a brand new look.
The news follows years of scepticism, doubts and failed projects, and even now with artists’ designs published, many still say it is difficult to believe the plans for the former Taff Vale Shopping Centre will ever come to fruition.
That’s due to the number of projects that have been promised and then fallen through, including a shopping development and large-scale apartment scheme.
But the council, which bought the site in 2015, is adamant that this time, the vision will be achieved.
Work has already begun on the site of the new development, which will be housed in three buildings.
It is set to bring a “significant number of jobs” to Pontypridd, with the base for South Wales Metro operator Transport for Wales to be built there.
That’s as well as a number of other exciting developments including a new library, leisure and fitness centre.
From being a famous 1960s shopping centre to the failed projects of the past few years, to hope for the future, this is how the site and plans surrounding it have changed...
Erected in the 1960s, the Taff Vale Shopping Centre was an important landmark in the town’s makeup, housing dozens of shops from Foster’s Wine Market to Happy Home Furnishers to Marenghi’s Italian cafe.
According to newspaper reports from the time, there was “optimism and foresight” when the centre was first built, but was later considered by many to be the town’s “ugly duckling”.
Over the years, it became Pontypridd’s bone of contention, and as footfall declined, shops began to close, causing the centre to become run down.
In 2001, a new hope for the centre and the first plans to revitalise the site were unveiled.
The near-£50m Angharad Walk scheme looked to breathe life into Pontypridd town centre as a whole, and gained planning permission in 2003.
It was put forward by the Scarborough Development Group, and sought to create 1,000 jobs through construction and