MONMOUTHSHIRE council will submit bids for government levelling-up cash for projects in Caldicot and Monmouth, as well as a new bid for transport improvements in Chepstow.

The council’s cabinet unanimously agreed to submitting the bids when the second round of the fund launches in the spring at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

A bid for £14 million to upgrade Caldicot Leisure Centre and revitalise the town centre, and another for £11 million for projects in Monmouth will be refined and resubmitted after they were unsuccessful in the first round of the scheme in the autumn.

A third bid being developed will support the development of a transport hub and active travel improvements in Chepstow – such as walking and cycling routes – which have been backed in the latest stage of the Chepstow Transport Study, designed to tackle traffic issues in the town.

Cllr Sara Jones, cabinet member for economy and the council’s deputy leader, said she was hopeful of success as the authority refines its initial bids and puts forward a new one.

“We are confident we are going to be putting forward some really strong bids and we are confident these will deliver real benefits for residents right across the county,” she said.

Chepstow councillor Paul Pavia welcomed the new bid to fund transport improvements in the town.

He said the bids would underpin regeneration work planned in Chepstow and offer a solution to the “long blighted transport and traffic issues” which have ‘hindered’ the town.

A transport hub and active travel improvements have been recommended as solutions to traffic issues in Chepstow, alongside a £60 million bypass.

The council is currently awaiting a decision from the Welsh Government on a separate bid to progress plans for the bypass.

Council leader, Cllr Richard John, also gave his support to the bids and said the authority was “really ambitious for the Levelling-up Fund and the opportunities there”.

The UK Government fund supports projects for town centre and high street regeneration, local transport schemes and cultural and heritage assets.

Monmouthshire’s bids for the first round were unsuccessful after the authority was placed into category one, identified as an area less in need of investment.