‘Visitors to town could quadruple’

ONE of the people behind £50m plans to bring an industrial heritage centre to Merthyr Tydfil says there is the potential to quadruple the number of visitors to part of the town.

Addressing full council on Wednesday, project adviser Geraint Talfan Davies told members there was no reason why the proposal for the centre at Cyfarthfa Castle shouldn’t quadruple the number of visitors.

The plan, which was announced by the Design Commission for Wales in May, could see £50m spent on the project over the course of a decade.

In October last year, the Design Commission for Wales and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University held an event to share ideas at Cyfarthfa Castle.

The event saw 60 different experts including architects, landscape architects, planners, heritage specialists and artists meet to discuss the potential for an industrial heritage centre and how it might become an international-quality visitor destination.

Mr Talfan Davies said he hoped this was a moment Merthyr would seize and that it could become a magnet for the rest of the world.

He said: “This is much more than a local project – it is a national project.

“Merthyr Tydfil has got such a terrific history and its projection needs to be commensurate with its importance in history.

“I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t quadruple the number of visitors to Cyfarthfa.

“There is a golden moment of opportunity to get the rest of the world to put money into Merthyr.”

Councillor Julian Amos, Independent, said the town has got more to offer in other areas, as well as Cyfarthfa, and asked if they could consider these as well.

Mr Talfan Davies said Cyfarthfa would be the core area but that it “would be a mistake” to put everything into Cyfarthfa, adding the reason they were trying to do things quickly was because it may not be too late to get European funding.

Cllr Chris Barry, Labour, said the project had his full support and said the cabinet member was lucky to have such a highly effective regeneration team, adding that he fervently hopes it comes to fruition.

Cllr Clive Jones, Labour, said: “This is an exciting project. We certainly have a story to tell.”

Cllr Gareth Lewis, Labour, said Merthyr’s history was something to be celebrated, while fellow Labour member Cllr David Isaac said it will be a “commemoration of the past and vision for the future” so he would like to see young people on the board making decisions about it.

The council will now set up various working groups to discuss how to take the plan forward.