The Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care has visited the works site in Gelli where the construction phase has recently started to build a new specialist care accommodation. The modern facility will be dedicated to providing care for people with learning disabilities in adulthood and older age.
Councillor Gareth Caple was welcomed by the Council’s appointed contractor, Langstone Construction Group, during the visit on Thursday, December 19. The construction phase of the project got underway during November 2024, and is scheduled for completion in 2026. The new specialist accommodation is being built on the unused former Bronllwyn Residential Care Home site.
The prominent site at Colwyn Road will be developed into a new specialist care accommodation that includes 14 en-suite rooms with respite provision. These will be built across a lower ground floor, ground floor, and first floor. A courtyard area will be positioned to the west of the building, while the existing car park and access point into the site will be retained in the development.
Among the modern amenities within the building will be three day rooms, three sensory rooms, a commercial kitchen, a hairdresser, assisted bathrooms and a training room.
Since work got underway on November 18, Langstone Construction Group has made positive progress – despite the recent poor weather.
To date, the focus has been on removing more than 6,000 tonnes of excavated material from the works site. This has been completed in preparation to lay the building foundations, which is the next major task for the project – alongside constructing retaining walls, drainage infrastructure, and sub-structures.
In the community, the contractor has established a very good relationship with the nursery and primary education settings nearby. It has sponsored the ‘Bumbles of Honeywood’ programme, which is developing the entrepreneurial skills of young people with Cylch Meithrin Bronllwyn, while it has also provided high-visibility tabards for nursery and primary pupils attending the schools.
Councillor Gareth Caple, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said: “I was very pleased to visit the works site in Gelli on Thursday morning, to mark the start of the construction phase for this important new care accommodation development. We’ve made substantial progress during 2024 towards delivering this project in 2026 – with our activity progressing from demolishing the former care home buildings earlier in the year, to appointing a contractor and starting construction of the main works.
“This multi-million pound development for people with learning disabilities is targeted to meet current and future needs, and forms part of our wider investment to modernise care accommodation options for adults, including older people. In recent years we’ve built Extra Care housing schemes in Aberaman and Graig – which remain very popular – and are currently building a third in Porth.
“Further investment is also agreed by Cabinet for three modern developments – to provide a purpose-built dementia care facility in Ferndale, an extra care and dementia care accommodation in Mountain Ash, and an accommodation dedicated for people with learning disabilities in adulthood in Church Village.
“I’d like to thank the Council’s contractor Langstone Construction Group for their warm welcome to the work site in Gelli on Thursday. It was fantastic to see that the scheme is making important progress in its early weeks, and that the contractor is also having a positive contribution within the community – particularly the two education settings located near to the works site. I’m looking forward to the site being further transformed in the months ahead.”
The construction phase is progressing with minimal disruption to the local community. If residents have queries about the works or site activity, please contact the contractor project manager (rthomas@langstoneconstruction.com) or social value manager (rjohn@langstoneconstruction.com) for the scheme.
Posted on 19/12/2024