Rhyl funding will regenerate Pensarn

Mar 11 2010 by Ian Hughes, North Wales Weekly News

PENSARN is preparing itself for an influx of cash funding after damning unemployment statistics.

Latest figures show that 41% of people of working age in Pensarn are on some form of benefits.

A total of 465 people in the seaside town were out of work as of May 2009.

In January this year roughly 10% of the population was claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance.

Cllr Ken Sudlow has tried to pinpoint why the problem is so bad.

“It is difficult but there are not a lot of opportunities here. As we are a seaside town a lot of the jobs are seasonal,” he said.

In a recent presentation to Abergele Youth Action Group, Rhyl City Strategy told councillors they had allotted £49,474 for regeneration in Pensarn.

Cllr Sudlow said the area had never received this kind of funding before.

“I hope we can improve the area together with Rhyl City Strategy and other organisations. We can identify people and organisations that need help and make best use of this generous funding,” he said.

He hopes the money will show long term benefits in the area. A community hub like Itica in Abergele, he claims, would go a long way to improving things.

Plans were outlined in the initiative A Joint Approach to Tackling Worklessness.

The aim of the recent meeting was to determine where the money would be best spent.

But despite the good news, Cllr Brian Roberts has taken issue with the origins of the money.

“I am concerned that where the money is spent will ultimately be decided by people from outside the area,” he said.

“It would be best if it were dealt with solely by people with a knowledge of Pensarn.”

Mayor of Abergele Delyth MacRae was grateful for the cash influx.

“Any money allocated to Pensarn is warmly received and we hope it is put to good use,” she said.

Rhyl City Strategy is one of 15 UK pathfinders. They all aim to tackle unemployment in the country’s most deprived areas.

A spokesperson said its aim is “helping individuals fulfil their potential through work”.

Along with searching for jobs, the scheme promotes confidence building and the improvement of soft skills.

They hope people involved will develop an appetite for learning.

Last year, the project in Rhyl got 455 unemployed people engaged in work-related activity – 299 of these gained job-specific skills and 70 obtained full time employment.

ian.hughes