Work begins on Bettws’ new Welsh-medium childcare hub

Clearance work on the site of the former Boys and Girls Club in Bettws has started as part of a £2.8m investment into new Welsh-medium childcare facilities for Bridgend County Borough.

The work, which had to be postponed after an ecological survey revealed birds were nesting at the site, is being carried out by Stafford Construction and is expected to be complete by spring 2022.

The Bettws hub is one of four and will be joined by other Welsh-medium facilities at Blackmill, Bridgend and Porthcawl.

Designed to serve the Garw Valley and surrounding valleys gateway area, the hub will provide 16 Welsh-medium childcare places as well as six places for younger children aged up to two. It will also offer out-of-school childcare provision which will operate for 52 weeks of the year.

The single-storey building will operate Monday to Fridays between 7am-7pm and will feature new play space, quiet rooms, storage facilities, offices and a car parking area with room for seven vehicles.

The area to the front and side of the building will be landscaped to include soft play facilities and a canopy which will provide children and staff with shelter and shade.

Cllr Dhanisha Patel, Cabinet Member for Well-being and Future Generations, said: “This new facility is a significant investment that promises to be of great benefit for the Garw Valley and the surrounding area.

“It also represents our ongoing commitment towards increasing the number of Welsh speakers in the county borough, and to encouraging further growth of the Welsh language.

“I am looking forward to seeing the new childcare facilities take shape.”