Powys: First Minister Mark Drakeford praises building on trip to Newtown

The Riverside venue built on the site of the former Radio Hafren building will be known by its Welsh name Hafan yr Afon and is set to open to the public later this month.

It has been made out of reclaimed materials and will include a dog-friendly cafe, small shop, tourist information area, changing rooms and community rooms that will be available for hire.

Mr Drakeford complemented the “striking” new building.

He said: “It looks like a landmark building. Even in the brief time I have been walking round you are really struck by the quality of the craftsmanship from the way it is built out of sustainable materials.

First Minister Mark Drakeford being shown the grounds of Hafan yr Afon

“That is something that is going to make the building somewhere people will want to visit. And it will establish itself as an important facility right in the centre of town. Where it is, the placement of it – close to the station, close to town, close to the new health and wellbeing centre – it has a huge amount going for it.”

Mr Drakeford, however saved the most praise for the staff who made the project happen.

He continued: “The enthusiasm and commitment of the people I have been meeting this morning, their commitment to making all this work – that is even more important.

“The building is wonderful but if you don’t have the people to go alongside it then buildings don’t do the trick by themselves.”

First Minister Mark Drakeford meets the staff of Hafan yr Afon

The building is part of the Welsh Government’s town regeneration plan and Mr Drakeford praised the building’s ability to be useful on multiple fronts.

He said: “We know that town centres really matter to people. They give such messages to people about where they live and the worthiness of where they live.

"This is part of our town centre regeneration plans for across Wales but it also manages to combine that with a whole load of things that are to do with sustainability, active travel and making places fit for the future.”

Enterprise development officer for Hafan yr Afon, Stuart Owen, said: “Having the First Minister visit Newtown was fantastic. I think he really enjoyed his visit to our new building Hafan yr Afon.

"This is our river haven, this is our sanctuary, our welcome place, a place of kindness."

Mr Owen said he is looking forward to opening and thinks the building should be a great asset for the town.

He continued: “We're looking forward to having more forest school and river school activities, we’ve got a new catering offer which we will announce this week which is very different to what is available to Newtown.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford being shown Newtown Town Centre by Councillor Joy Jones

"This is a highly sustainable new building; we have solar panels on the roof, we have water attenuation crates.”

“We have a story to tell in Newtown. We haven’t had such an investment in the people of the town for some time apart from the bypass.

"It’s really welcoming people to our green and blue assets which also bring in people to the town centre so they can have a great experience.”

Mr Drakeford also took time to visit Newtown town centre after the visit to see the regeneration there with Councillor Joy Jones.

“It’s amazing that the First Minister has taken the time to visit Newtown,” said Councillor Jones.

“I’m very pleased he took time out of his very busy schedule to come to see what the investments have been put into Newtown recently.

"Hopefully he will see how much more investment we need for the people of this area.

"We know that Newtown is an area of deprivation so the more funding we can put into the town the better it is for the people that live here.”