Council updates plans for new Welsh-medium childcare facilities

Plans to provide four new childcare hubs in Blackmill, Bettws, Bridgend and Porthcawl as part of a £2.6m investment into Welsh-medium education are gathering pace.

Work will shortly commence on the construction of the first of the new hubs, which is based on land off the Isfryn Industrial Estate in Blackmill.

Designed to serve the Ogmore Valley with places for a total of 34 children aged up to five, the single-storey building will operate between 7am-7pm and will feature new play space, quiet rooms, storage facilities, offices and a car parking area with room for up to seven vehicles.

The area to the front and side of the building will also be landscaped, and will include soft play facilities beneath a canopy which will provide shade and shelter. The work on the Blackmill childcare hub is expected to be complete by December 2021.

At Bettws, preparations are underway to establish the second childcare hub on the derelict site of the former Bettws Boys and Girls Club, which will be demolished to make way for the new centre.

However, the start of work has had to be temporarily delayed until the end of August after an ecology survey discovered that birds are nesting at the site. As a result, the completion date for the facility has been revised to March 2022.

With Welsh Government funding also in place for the remaining two Welsh medium childcare hubs, option appraisals are continuing to be carried out on potential sites in Bridgend and Porthcawl.

Lindsay Harvey, Director of Education and Family Support, said: “These plans demonstrate the council’s ongoing commitment towards increasing the number of Welsh speakers in the county borough, and to encouraging further growth of the Welsh language.”