FURTHER funding has been committed to the £10 million regeneration of Caldicot town centre.

New apartments, upgraded shops, a pedestrian-friendly street and a co-working space feature in Monmouthshire council’s plans for the area.

Councillors have approved the release of £1.2 million towards the project, supported by Welsh Government funding, planning – also known as Section 106 – agreements with developers and borrowing.

Speaking at full council on Thursday, council leader Peter Fox (Con, Portskewett) said: “It’s a lovely community around Caldicot and it deserves the infrastructure upgrade and the opportunities that will come from that.”

Some of the money has also come from the Caldicot Town Team, a community interest group which produced a regeneration masterplan for the town centre in 2016.

It formed the basis of the proposals that were presented to the Welsh Government and the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal last year.

The first town team in Wales, the group was funded using £225,000 of section 106 money generated from the Asda supermarket in Caldicot.

Since then the group has rejuvenated the town centre by holding regular markets, bringing in more than 160 new traders to Caldicot, and have helped hold events like Hoggin’ the Bridge.

A council report says the town team support its regeneration scheme but admit their strengths remain with events rather than being a ‘delivery vehicle’ for major infrastructure projects.

With the group now able to operate without section 106 funding, councillors agreed to recover £73,000 in unspent section 106 money to put towards the regeneration scheme.

Several councillors praised the town team for their achievements since forming in 2013, with Caldicot councillor Jo Watkins (Lib Dem, Caldicot Castle) saying: “They’ve done amazing work.

“Years ago, if you walked through Caldicot town centre all you would see was a load of dreary shops and nothing happening.

“Caldicot Town Team brought life, energy and vigour. The difference has been astonishing.”

Cabinet member for community development,Cllr Sara Jones, (Con, Llanover) added: “It’s really important that we always ackknowledge volunteers, and how important an asset they are to our county, and none more so than in this case.”