Plea to 'kick start' £5m centre

The estate has been described as one of the most deprived in Wales

A skills centre on a deprived estate has been delayed because of a £300,000 funding shortfall, it is claimed.

The £5m centre, in Caia Park, Wrexham, will aim to teach teenagers skills in the media and creative arts.

North Wales AM Janet Ryder raised the matter at Welsh assembly question time and asked First Minister Rhodri Morgan whether funding could be provided.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said it was helping to "formulate an application for funding support".

Plaid AM Ms Ryder said Wrexham Council had donated the land for the centre which has been earmarked for the old Caia Park Youth Club.

She said the £300,000 was needed to cover pre-building costs.

She told the first minister that the centre would be in "the most educationally deprived ward in Wales - Queensway in Caia Park".

"The council has now gifted the land, but there is a sticking point and that is the £300,000 of pre-building costs to the project," she said.

"As this is a unique collaboration in the most deprived educational ward in Wales, will the assembly government consider providing the funding needed to kick-start the project?"

The assembly government said later: "The Wrexham 14-19 Network has submitted proposals for the construction of a new purpose-built skills centre in the town.

"We are working closely with the network to assist in developing the business case and in formulating an application for funding support, to take these proposals forward. "