Plea to help fill deserted Mid Wales business parks
Calls are being made for more to be done to market two business parks which remain empty despite a multi-million investment five years ago.
The £1.9 million Offa's Dyke Business Park extension near Welshpool and a £650,000 site at Abermule, near Newtown, were launched in October 2009, but both remain deserted.
The business parks were created as part of the £7.5 million Severn Valley Regeneration Programme funded in the main by Welsh Government and European Funding. The 15-acre extension at the Trewern site, near Welshpool, has room for 19 business units while the smaller Abermule facility has capacity for seven.
Montgomeryshire Assembly Member Russell George called for the the Welsh Government to do more to market the sites when he raised the issue at the Welsh Assembly on Tuesday.
He said: "Millions of pounds of public money have been spent on the extension of Offa's Dyke Business Park and the park near Abermule to help benefit the economy of Mid Wales but, five years on, they still lie empty. I am aware that this is an issue raised by local county councillor Wynne Jones as well."
He asked Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Local Government and Government Business, to make a statement on the situation.
Mrs Griffiths said: "My understanding is that they are construction-ready, with all the necessary infrastructure in place. Individual plots continue to be marketed with on-site signage, and through the Wales property database."
Mr George said he would carry on urging the Welsh Government to be more proactive in marketing the sites.
