Exciting plans to create new community facilities on a former secondary school site in Pontllanfraith will start to take shape next month.
Demolition of the old Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School buildings will commence in August to make way for a new education hub along with a 4 court sports hall and multi-use games area (MUGA) with 3G surface.
The preparatory works involve demolition and the movement of plant and machinery within a constrained site. Unfortunately, this means that the adjacent leisure centre and existing 3G sports pitch will be closed to the public throughout August to allow the first phase of the scheme to progress safely.
Aneurin Bevan Health Board, who have been using the leisure centre as a vaccination centre over recent years, have now vacated the site to allow the works to progress.
Cllr Chris Morgan, CCBC Cabinet Member for Leisure said, “We welcome the start of works to progress these exciting new community facilities, but we also recognise that due to health and safety considerations there will be some inconvenience in the short term to facilitate the demolition scheme.
The 3G pitch will reopen in September, but now that the health board have concluded their vaccination programme at the leisure centre, the future of the facility can be formally considered over the coming months as part of a mid-way review of our 10 year Sport and Active Recreation Strategy.
This review will include all our facilities across the county borough to ensure we are providing modern, fit for purpose provision which meets the evolving needs of our communities, whilst remaining sustainable financially.
The decision making process will include wide ranging public consultation and engagement before any decision is made.”
Pontllanfraith leisure centre will remain closed pending the outcome of this review, as a significant amount of work and investment would be needed to make the site fully operational again. Alternative facilities are available at other sites across the county borough, which have accommodated users over the past 2 years during the time the site was used as a mass vaccination centre.
