Developments could change look of town
ABERDARE could look quite different by the end of 2017, as a string of developments take shape during the next 12 months.
Many of the projects are as a direct result of three secondary schools making way for Aberdare Community School in 2015, and, in what is an era of huge change for education in the area, there’s also a new college being built.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other big projects which should make big progress in 2017 and would change how Aberdare looks.
Reporter Sam Tegeltija looks at what’s in the offing...
The paddling pool at Aberdare Park has been closed since the summer of 2013, after it was axed in council cuts during May 2014 along with every other outdoor pool in Rhondda Cynon Taff.
But, in August this year the new Friends of Aberdare Park community group revealed plans to bring it back into use, and by October it had released plans to replace the pool with a new children’s splash pad.
The water play facility would not include an actual pool, but recent de- velopments have given a new hope for reviving the forgotten facility during the New Year. It may have been closed in October 2014, but the old Michael Sobell Sports Centre at the Ynys still stands defiantly.
The old astro turf which sat at its side for years has long gone, and been replaced by a 3G pitch nearby where the new Sobell Sports Centre also stands next to the state-of-theart Aberdare Community School.
The old sports centre should have been long demolished by now, but in September 2015 RCT council leader Andrew Morgan said the project to build an athletics track in its place was delayed.
Due to asbestos problems which means the building can only be demolished ‘brick by brick’, its was put back until 2016 and then summer 2017.
The project includes the building of a 172seat stand and changing rooms.
The new £22m college campus in Robertstown is on course to be finished and open to students in September 2017.
The project has hit various landmarks in 2016, such as the start of construction in March when the turf was broken by First Minister Carwyn Jones, and a ‘topping out’ ceremony in November, to signify the point when the entire structure of the campus was built.
It was also recently revealed that a student-run salon and a restaurant will open to members of the public on site, as learners gain experience in an industry-like environment.
With one college site going up, another will come down – as the old Cwmdare college campus will be replaced.
The buildings, which have been Aberdare’s college since 1959, could be replaced by 101 homes. Coleg y Cymoedd was consulting members of the public over its plans during November and December.
The site will be vacated at the end of the current education year which ends in summer 2017, and Coleg y Cymoedd will submit its outline application for the housing development once it has gaged the public’s views on its plans.
Just across the road from the old college there could be another 98 homes built at the old Aberdare Boys’ School, last used as a temporary campus for the new super-school in May 2015.
This application is further along than that of the college a stone’s throw away – with developer WDL Homes gaining planning permission during November.
Provisional plans released by WDL Homes show that the homes would be built across the site – including on the old school playing fields – but the old lower school building and the Cwmdare Community Sports Centre are not included in the development.
In October, the council said the site is ‘under offer’ to WDL Homes subject to it securing planning permission.
It was a big year for the old Aberdare Girls’ School in 2016 – and in May we revealed Aberdare School Developments’ new plans to convert the school and its grounds into 44 homes. They include 26 apartments, 16 bungalows and two houses.
Also used as a campus for the Aberdare ‘super’ school up until May 2015, the council sold the 1913 building at auction two months later.
The first occupants of the bungalows and houses could move in during 2017, but it will be 2019 before the apartments – reserved for people aged 50 and over – are ready in the old school building itself.
The old Magistrates’ Court in Plasdraw was demolished in the past 12 months - five years after it closed back in 2011.