A debate in the Senedd Cymru on 15 October 2025, led by Luke Fletcher (Plaid Cymru), shone a spotlight on the challenges facing Wales’s town centres, from rising vacancy rates to changing shopping habits.

Fletcher urged the Welsh Government to commit to a long-term town-centre regeneration strategy, including:

  • Preferential business-rates relief for small and independent retailers (including hospitality businesses).
  • Sustained regeneration funding beyond short-term programmes.
  • New powers to support community ownership of local assets.

He warned that high streets have become “symbols of economic decline”, adding that “our towns and city centres need structural reform, not sticking plasters.”

Bangor in focus

Bangor featured prominently in the debate as a case study of both challenges and local innovation.

Peredur Owen Griffiths (MS, Plaid Cymru) praised the city’s collaborative approach:

“In Bangor, the local chamber of trade, landlords and businesses are working together to bring large, empty properties back into use — dividing them into smaller, more affordable units for independent traders.”

But he also criticised decisions that had undermined local efforts, citing the relocation of Coleg Menai from the city centre to Parc Menai, saying:

“When the college moved out, it took hundreds of people with it every day — and the town-centre team were left scratching their heads.”

He added that such moves “hollow out” town centres, reducing footfall and spending, and make regeneration far more difficult.

Bangor, he said, “shows both the challenges and the potential — when local people, landlords and businesses work together, things can change.”

“No magic bullet” for town centres

Responding for the Welsh Government, Lee Waters (MS, Labour) agreed that town-centre decline is one of Wales’s biggest economic and social challenges, but warned that “there is no magic bullet.”

He cautioned against over-simplified solutions:

“Free parking alone won’t fix it. What used to work 30 years ago won’t work now. We need to think differently about what town centres are for — places to live, work, and spend time, not just shop.”

Waters argued that regenerating Wales’s high streets requires a “whole-place approach” that combines housing, workspace, green spaces and better transport links.

Free parking, business rates and regeneration funding

Conservative MSs used the debate to push for free parking in town centres and even the abolition of business rates for small businesses, claiming that such moves could boost footfall.

Plaid Cymru supported rate reform but said short-term measures alone would not solve systemic issues. Fletcher’s motion called instead for a preferential rates multiplier to support smaller retailers and hospitality businesses.

Waters pointed to progress through the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme, which has already provided over £100 million for regeneration projects, with another £57 million on the way.

He also highlighted new banking hubs opening across Wales to counter the loss of local branches – 11 of which are now operational.

 The road ahead

Across parties, MSs agreed that town centres remain the “heart of communities”, but differ on how best to revive them.

For towns like Bangor, the debate underscored several key challenges and opportunities:

  • Re-imagining large vacant retail spaces into mixed-use, smaller units.
  • Reversing the impact of relocating public services away from town centres.
  • Targeted business-rate relief for local traders.
  • Thoughtful use of parking and access policies to attract visitors.
  • Empowering communities to take ownership of local assets.

While there was no single solution, all sides agreed that sustaining vibrant, lived-in high streets will depend on long-term, joined-up planning rather than short-term fixes.

As Lee Waters put it: “We can’t turn back the clock – but we can build something new in its place.”

Read the full Senedd debate here. 

Photo: Bangor High Street – © Gill Jones