The development of Bridgend County Borough’s first Extra Care housing scheme has reached an important new stage this week.
After several months of planning and essential investigation, work will now begin on demolishing the former Troed y Ton residential care home in Kenfig Hill. The initial work will involve internal stripping before it moves outside to the exterior of the building. It will make way for the development of a brand new Extra Care facility which will provide high-quality specialist homes for 70 people in 40 units in a purpose-built complex.
The new £5m scheme is being funded by the council, Valleys To Coast Housing (V2C) and the Welsh Assembly Government, who have awarded it a social housing grant. The facility will be developed in partnership with V2C. The scheme will also allow a £500,000 investment at Glan Yr Afon care home for improving services for adults suffering from dementia.
Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet agreed the development of Extra Care in principle on 31 March 2009 and the first priority was the safe move of existing residents to an alternative and appropriate setting, as well as redeploying staff.
Since the home became vacant in September 2009, there has been considerable progress and activity on the site to make it ready for this week’s demolition. This has included:
- Emptying the building of all fixtures and fittings.
- Ground investigations, asbestos surveys and a bat survey.
- Overseeing security arrangements and health and safety requirements with the disconnection of utilities.
- Formally transferring land to V2C.
- Obtaining planning consent and resolving issues such as boundaries, drainage and a fire safety strategy.
- Tendering for, shortlisting and securing a building contractor.
- Completing contracts and social housing grant payments.
- Preparing for demolition including health and safety planning, licensing, and insurance.
Cowlins Construction is now in the process of preparing the site for demolition. Building works are expected to start in June 2010 with the new scheme ready by September 2011.
Councillor Lyn Morgan, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, said: “While it may seem that there has not been much activity at the site, the council and its partners have been doing an enormous amount of work to reach this stage. These kinds of important developments can be very complicated, so it’s important that we get every aspect of it just right.
“I think the community will feel very emotional saying goodbye to a much-loved local home, but Extra Care is a very significant step forward in the way we address some of the challenges of an ageing population. I remain confident that this is the right thing to do and I’m excited about what Extra Care will mean for this area, now and in the future.
“We will be holding a series of open days to help keep local people informed about Extra Care and what services the new facility will provide – look out for more details in a special edition of the County Borough Bulletin newspaper which will soon be delivered to all homes and businesses in the local community.
“Extra Care is the future of adult social care services in the United Kingdom, and I am pleased that this facility will mean that local people in Bridgend County Borough will not miss out.”
