Plans approved for new Welsh-medium childcare facility

A new Welsh-medium childcare facility for more than 30 children is to be built in the Ogmore Valley.

The single-storey building which will be built on land off the Isfryn Industrial Estate, Blackmill, is designed to cater for up to 34 children ranging from 0-5 years and eight members of staff.

It will include areas of play space, quiet rooms, storage rooms and offices with a car parking area for seven vehicles next to the building.

The growth of the Welsh language continues to be a priority for the local authority, and this new facility demonstrates our ongoing commitment to increasing the number of Welsh speakers.

We are delighted to see the investment in the Ogmore Valley and look forward to seeing it once it is built.

It is one of four new Welsh-medium childcare projects in the county borough with the remaining three in Bettws, Bridgend and Porthcawl. They are being funded in full by a £2.6m Welsh Government grant.

The council’s cabinet member for wellbeing and future generations Dhanisha Patel

In Blackmill, the proposed opening hours of the site are from 7am to 7pm. The day-to-day operation of the building will be carried out by a third party provider, following a tender process which will take place in due course.

The area to the front and side of the building will be either grassed, turfed or finished with a rubber crumb softplay surface and a small canopy will be set up over part of the soft play area to provide shade and shelter.

Areas of new tree planting are planned as part of the design with nest boxes for bat and bird species also being installed.

Plans for the new facility were approved at a Bridgend County Borough Council development control committee on Thursday, July 23.

Planning permission is currently being sought for the Welsh-medium childcare project in Bettws on the derelict site of the former Bettws Boys & Girls Club organisation while options appraisals are being undertaken for the facilities in Bridgend and Porthcawl.