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Work on the new 25-home apartment block on the site of the former Ty yn y Pwll pub is now complete.

Known locally as the ‘Pyke’, the pub used to be the toll house where tolls were charged for the use of the road between Caerphilly and Newport.

It was the oldest building in Trethomas before it was demolished in 2021.

The development which now stands in its place on Newport Road has been built by Caerphilly-based housing association United Welsh, and includes one and two-bedroom apartments for people aged over 55.

The new apartments have all achieved an energy efficiency rating of EPC A, meaning they are insulated to the highest standard, United Welsh has said.

United Welsh welcomed Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen community councillors to the apartments for a tour on March 30, to mark its completion.

United Welsh chief executive Richard Mann said: “It is really positive to see the site of the old derelict pub building transformed into much-needed new homes for older people, as well as communal spaces for community partnerships to flourish.

Cllr Shayne Cook, Caerphilly Council’s cabinet member for housing, said working with organisations like United Welsh “to deliver high quality affordable housing is a key commitment for the council”. 

Cllr Cook added: “Transforming empty buildings and bringing them back into beneficial use is another key aim for us and this development is a perfect example of this being put into practice.” 

Plans to demolish the former pub and build apartments in its place were approved by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee in January 2021.

The plans were controversial at the time, with the late Plaid Cymru community councillor Daniel Llewellyn describing it as the “wrong scheme for Trethomas and in the wrong place”.

However, then-Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen councillor Derek Havard, who represented Labour, said he was “glad something is finally being done” with the building, which he said has become dilapidated, ‘rat-infested’ and the target of vandalism.

However, it was not the first time the planning committee had an approved an application for the site.

In 2016, an application from Pontcanna Development Ltd to demolish the pub was approved to make way for a 32-bed care home. However, this never came to fruition.

A previous plan to turn the disused pub into a community centre collapsed after the charity behind the scheme could not secure funding. Connections Community Hub (CCH) agreed to purchase the building in 2014 and had plans to transform it into a café with a difference – a multi-functional hub for the whole community to use, access services and develop ideas.