Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved plans during a remote meeting held on 3rd March to develop the sites in Trethomas and Trecenydd.
The Trethomas development will be located at Llanfabon Drive, South Lane and will see 12 new 1-bedroom apartments constructed, along with outdoor landscaped areas and car parking.
Trecenydd’s former 49 Club site will be developed into 6 new 1-bedroom apartments, along with relevant external amenity area and parking.
Welsh Government have awarded £3.1m to fund the cost of development and innovation through the Innovative Housing Programme.
New homes on both sites will be constructed to Passivhaus standard; consisting of very high levels of insulation, extremely high performance windows with insulated frames, airtight building fabric and a mechanical heat ventilation system. As well as helping to lower carbon emissions, these buildings will result in low energy costs for tenants and contribute towards housing need in the borough.
Cllr Lisa Phipps, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Property, said “This is an incredibly exciting step for us as a Council in beginning to deliver our ambitious new build programme. Whilst these sites are small, they will deliver much needed 1 bedroom accommodation that is currently desperately needed in the county borough.
Our approach to using local supply chains and innovative modern methods of construction will also enable us to deliver much wider benefits for the county borough, including tackling the issue of climate change and creating jobs and training opportunities for local people.”
Willmott Dixon have been appointed as the Council’s delivery partner. The steel frame utilised in the construction will be manufactured in the Caerphilly county borough by Caledan Ltd, based on Penallta Industrial Estate.
Andrew Dobbs, Willmott Dixon Director, commented: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Caerphilly County Borough Council to deliver these homes. It is great to see the Council putting climate change at the heart of new build programme. Not only will these homes help protect the environment, they will also be low cost to run.
We hope that these developments will set a new standard for low carbon homes in the borough and through working with our local supply chain, they will pave the way for many more sustainable schemes in the future.’’
Chris Morton, Chief Executive at Caledan, added “Myself and the team at Caledan are very pleased to be involved with Caerphilly Council and Willmott Dixon in helping to provide both innovative and quality housing for the people of Caerphilly. The scheme will also support the local community in not just securing existing jobs but also in providing further employment opportunities”
