Holyhead is located within the country of Wales - a Celtic part of the United Kingdom which has become increasingly self-governing in recent decades, and gained its own elected national assembly in 1999. The Welsh Assembly consists of elected Assembly Members (AM's). The majority are elected to a constituency, but there are also a number who are elected through a regional party list system.

Welsh Assembly Government

Many government functions in Wales are now the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government, which is based in Cardiff. These functions include Health, Local Government, Transport, Education, Economic Development, and European Funding. The Welsh Assembly Government also has a number of offices throughout Wales and has adopted a policy of relocating some of its services to regional centres. Welsh Assembly staff dealing with Holyhead Regeneration matters are currently based in St.Asaph, Llandrillo (Colwyn Bay), and Parc Menai (Bangor). A new large Welsh Assembly office for North Wales is being built at Llandudno Junction.

Merger of Welsh Government Agencies

A number of Welsh Assembly controlled/funded agencies were absorbed into the Welsh Assembly Government structure in April 2006. These included the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), the Wales Tourist Board (WTB) and Elwa (Education Learning Wales).

Mon a Menai Strategic Regeneration Area (SRA)

The Welsh Assembly has designated a number of SRA's in Wales where it aims to focus regeneration efforts. There are currently two such areas in North Wales. One is "Mon a Menai" covering Anglesey and North Gwynedd, and the other is "North Wales Coast" covering the towns of Rhyl and Colwyn Bay. The Mon a Menai SRA has been allocated £15m and is overseen by a Board including representatives of other agencies. The first Mon a Menai SRA Director was Dafydd Hughes, originally from Holyhead. The new director is Gwyn Roberts, who has been responsible for the Caernarfon's property regeneration company and award winning Galeri development. The Mon a Menai unit is based in CAST in Parc Menai, Bangor.

Welsh Assembly Support for Holyhead

The Welsh Assembly Government (directly and via its agencies) is a major funder of various regeneration projects and activities in Holyhead, including the following:-

Communities First - funding
Holyhead Transport & Environment Package - design & land purchase funding
Celtic Gateway - match funding
Penrhos Business Park - match funding
Parc Cybi Business Park - direct land & site works investment
Town Centre Regeneration Scheme - match funding
Town Improvement Grants (TIG) - grants to property investors
Holyhead Business Action (HBA) - grants to small business
Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) - grants to industry
Assembly Investment Grant (AIG) - grants to industry
Tourism Development - grants to business
Education and Training Initiatives - funding
Fishermen's Association project - match funding

Contact and Information
www.wales.gov.uk

The Welsh Assembly's Regeneration Manager for Anglesey is John Humphreys, who has been instrumental in many Holyhead regeneration activities.