The Llandovery and Llangadog Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) commenced in 2001 and is an example of public / private partnership in action. It is  County Council lead scheme working in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund , DE&T and Cadw. The scheme will finish in 2011.

The aim of the initiative is to regenerate the two historic market towns by grant aiding the private sector to invest in the repair and refurbishment of existing properties.

The downloadable pdf contains 'before and after' images of properties and buildings completed under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the scheme.

The initiative provides grant aid under 3 categories:

l to undertake repairs
l to re-instate lost architectural features, and
l to convert redundant parts of buildings to a useful purpose.

Grant rates vary from 75% for repairs to 90%  for the re-instatement of lost architectural features.

The Initiative is an example of a public/ private partnership in action.  The funding profile over the 10 years of the project is:

Heritage Lottery Fund                       £1,345,000
DE & T                                               £  475,000
Cadw                                                  £  225,000
Carmarthenshire County Council      £  737,000

Total                                                 £2,782,000

Between April 2001, when the Initiative started, to date 44 properties have been completed. 

This represents a total cash injection of over £2.7 million into local economy, over the two phases.  With contributions from the private sector, this means that some £3.75 million has been invested into the historic fabric of both towns.