Flintshire Councillors give nod to long-term regeneration plans for two Deeside towns
Plans setting out how Queensferry and Connah’s Quay could change over the coming years have been formally adopted by Flintshire County Council.
The council’s cabinet has agreed to adopt Place Making Plans for both towns, following detailed analysis and public consultation.
The plans are intended to guide regeneration work and ensure the council remains eligible for future Welsh Government town centre investment.
Each Place Making Plan examines the specific challenges facing its town and sets out a long-term vision supported by shorter-term action plans linked to available resources.
For Connah’s Quay, the plan identifies significant concerns around how the town is experienced by residents and visitors.
It identifies that many respondents to public consultations did not feel positive about the town centre or consider it welcoming, with cleanliness, safety and quality of life highlighted as the highest priorities for improvement.
[The above is taken from the Connah’s Quay Place Making Plan which was available on the council website]
The plan identifies pockets of crime and anti-social behaviour as a barrier to town centre use, alongside parking pressures and a lack of confidence in the current offer.
It also identifies the B5129 (High Street) as operating primarily as a through-road, rather than a place for people, and sets out ambitions to improve the pedestrian experience and reconnect the High Street with the docks, green spaces and surrounding neighbourhoods.
Connah’s Quay’s heritage is positioned as an underused asset, with the plan identifying opportunities to better tell the story of the town’s dockland, railway and riverside past as a way of strengthening identity and encouraging footfall.
The Queensferry plan presents a different starting point. It identifies the town’s role as a gateway into Flintshire and Wales, noting that first impressions, movement and arrival points shape how the town is perceived. The plan identifies traffic dominance and difficulty crossing main roads as everyday issues affecting how people use the town centre and local services.
[The above is taken from the Queensferry Place Making Plan which was available on the council website]
Disused and under-performing buildings are identified as having a negative impact on confidence and pride in Queensferry, with tackling these sites seen as central to improving the look and feel of the town. At the same time, the plan identifies strong community life and local identity as assets to build on, rather than problems to fix.
Both plans are based on two phases of public consultation, combining online surveys and in-person events, alongside engagement with town councils, local councillors and partner organisations.
Cabinet papers also set out delivery risks. The reports identify limited staff capacity within the council’s regeneration team and a potential gap between the scale of need identified and the funding available, meaning priorities will need to be carefully managed.
Councillor Chris Dolphin, cabinet member for environment, regeneration, countryside and tourism, said: “These Place Making Plans provide a clear, shared vision for the future of Queensferry and Connah’s Quay, shaped by local challenges and aspirations.
“They will help us attract investment and deliver improvements that residents, businesses and local stakeholders have told us they want to see.”
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