Tonypandy Town Centre Strategy
Working collaboratively with the community to create vision for Tonypandy
Project information
Client
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Location
Tonypandy, South Wales
The Challenge
Tonypandy is a historic town at the heart of the Rhondda Fawr Valley with a proud industrial heritage, strong community spirit, and proximity to beautiful natural landscapes. However, like many traditional high streets across the UK, it faces significant challenges.
The town centre stretches over a linear mile, dispersing retail activity thinly. High retail vacancy, inconsistent shopfront quality, vehicle dominance, and poor nighttime activity have all impacted the high street's vitality. However, Tonypandy possesses a rich foundation to build upon, defined by a strong community identity. With the recent South Wales Metro upgrades delivering enhanced rail services, a newly established Business Improvement District (BID), and a network of passionate local grassroots groups, the strategy presented a timely opportunity for positive transformation.
Our Role
Crucially, the plan was developed for and with the community. We designed and delivered a robust, multi-phase engagement programme featuring:
Public stalls at local markets and workshops with local councillors.
Targeted consultation guides for schools and young people.
Online community surveys via Let's Talk Tonypandy.
Collaboration with key partners including the Design Commission for Wales (DCFW), local businesses, and the newly established Business Improvement District (BID).
We distilled the town into three distinct focus areas; Pandy Square, Dunraven Street, and Lower Dunraven Street to establish tailored, place-specific interventions.
The Outcome
We established an overarching, community-backed vision for the town: “Welcome to Pandy”. This vision is driven by four key strategic ambitions:
Welcoming and Connected: Upgrading active travel, lighting, artwork, and wayfinding between the railway station, bus station, flyover, and high street.
Living on the High Street: Integrating town centre housing and reanimating upper floors to build a resilient resident population and support an evening economy.
Places to Celebrate: Creating flexible public realm, green infrastructure, and event spaces to host local markets, festivals, and community gatherings.
Nurturing Business: Supporting local entrepreneurs, establishing business incubators, and consolidating retail onto Dunraven Street.
The final Strategy Plan provides an actionable roadmap featuring both spatial design projects (such as shopfront refurbishments, historic building reuse, and public realm redesign) and non-spatial actions (including brand strategies and events programming). The document equips Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and the local BID with the statutory placemaking framework needed to secure Welsh Government Transforming Towns funding and deliver long-term transformational change in Tonypandy.
