MORE than two-thirds of Buckley residents believe the town centre is not a welcoming place.
That was one of the findings of a survey by Flintshire County Council as part of its placemaking plans to improve the town.
The consultation received responses from 3,561 residents with almost three quarters saying they did not feel positive about Buckley Town Centre.
Flintshire County Council’s Environment and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee will review the report on Tuesday, May 6 as it considers a proposed strategy to improve Buckley as a place to live, work and visit.
The Buckley Placemaking Plan has been compiled by regeneration consultants Chris Jones Studio and Robert Limbrick Architects in partnership with Flintshire County Council.
It details a strategic approach to improving and modernising Buckley precinct.
This includes reimagining the town centre with covered, outdoor pavilion performance area with seating near Brunswick Road Car Park, increasing pedestrianised areas and transforming the large former discount store on Brunswick Road into a experiential venue with indoor and outdoor activities on offer.
The report also suggests broader design codes to improve the look and feel of Buckley Town Centre – and recommends turning Buckley Swimming Baths into a community hub and making the Tivoli a music heritage destination.
The plans are built around five place-focused themes – announcing and arriving in the town centre, ‘greening’ Buckley (planting more trees and natural landscaping), activating the public realm, activity generators and rebuilding the Buckley character and identity.
There are also four people-focused themes to the report – local solutions, connected communities, building the Buckley brand and partnership working.
Partnership working may be the most important part of the project as the report also warns that there is unlikely to be enough funding to deliver the entire plan.
Currently Flintshire’s placemaking strategy to revitalise key town centres is funded through the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund and Welsh Government Transforming Towns programmes. To date the authority has received £168,065.
This has covered the cost of creating placemaking plans for seven town centres – Holywell, Shotton, Connah’s Quay, Queensferry, Flint, Mold and Buckley.
“There is expected to be a mismatch between the scale of need identified in the emerging Place Making Plans and the availability of resources to address them,” said the report.
“The main Welsh Government Transforming Towns capital programme has funded a range of investment activities in town centre across Flintshire in 2024-25 totalling £574,538.
“Further Transforming Towns funding is available to local authorities from April 2025 for 2025-26 and 2026-27, with each local authority across north Wales being provisionally allocated £485,000 each per annum for the implementation of regeneration and placemaking projects of up to £300,000 or less.
“Strategic Transforming Towns funds are also available for projects with a financial value of over £300,000 via a competitive application process to a national panel.
“Welsh Government funding available for North Wales remains small – between £8m-£9m per annum for six counties. However, Welsh Government are eager to see placemaking plans inform and set the context for future town centre investment and may make further funding available.
“In addition, £1,664,487 was secured through the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to deliver the Town Centre Investment Programme between July 2023 and March 2025. This has been fundamental to the placemaking plan development work completed to date.
“A further £475,939 is sought through the SPF transition year for 2025-26. The council’s regeneration team aim to apply for further funds to support ongoing place making and regeneration activity in 2025-26.
“Resources will not allow the Council to do everything everywhere. Managing expectations will be key in the process, particularly given that 3,561 local people have already participated in consultation as part of the placemaking plan development process for Buckley.
“Interventions that change the form and function of towns may not always be popular locally. Where significant change is proposed then the development of local action plans and masterplans allow for extensive local consultation and discussion on options.”
