“If they knock that down, Rhymney’s finished”: Residents fear housing redevelopment will demolish history

Rhymney residents fear a housing development will forever change a local historical site and impact local businesses.

Housing association Linc Cymru wants to build about 27 homes – a mix of houses and flats – and a dedicated children’s home to be run by Caerphilly County Borough Council.

The River Walk plans are likely to see the renovation of the Buchan Building, which was constructed by the Rhymney Ironworks Company and once owned by Rhymney Brewery. 

Planning permission is expected to be submitted in three to four months, but early plans were displayed to the community on November 16.

Peter Griffiths, 77, who has lived in Rhymney for around 50 years attended the consultation event and voiced his opposition to any demolition of the Buchan Building.

He said: “If they knock that down, Rhymney’s finished. They don’t knock Caerphilly Castle down because it’s old, do they?”

Chris Monk, project manager for Linc, said he was aware of the concern around the building and said the plan was to keep it intact as much as possible.

“It’s on the proposals to keep,” said Mr Monk, “though it may not be possible to keep the whole structure due to safety concerns. 

“Where we demolish is to be worked through,” he said. “The intention is to remain within those four walls.”

Despite this assurance, Mr Griffiths would rather see the building used for the community. 

“They could have play areas there for children, they could have community sessions there,” he said.

The concerns are worsened by the belief that Rhymney has seen a lot of properties destroyed compared to other areas.

“They’ve knocked so much down in Rhymney,” said Peter, adding that in his opinion modern buildings are not an improvement in terms of quality. 

Councillor Carl Cuss, who represents the Twyn Carno ward, supports the project – with certain conditions.

“It’s a positive step forward in terms of the Buchan Building,” said Cllr Cuss, who added that retaining the external part of the building would be a good compromise, so long as it maintains its “look”. 

Cllr Cuss has reservations about the ratio of social housing compared to those available for people to buy. 

“[Linc] haven’t confirmed how many houses are going to be on [the] open market,” he said.

“Some social housing, some [to] buy. That I would support.”

Mr Monk from Linc said that while the sale of some of the homes will be ‘explored’, the current market conditions, and the high cost of bills, mean most homes will likely be classed as ‘affordable’ and not sold on the open market. 

Businesses have got to relocate 

There is further concern about the redevelopment as local businesses in the area may be required to move and find alternative premises.

One of the businesses likely to be affected is the cancer charity Helping Hands, which currently uses the site to store medical aids which are available for seriously ill residents of the Upper Rhymney Valley. 

“We are still looking for premises in Rhymney,” said Derwyn Evans, who works for Helping Hands. 

“It’ll be nice if Linc Cymru could put a building up for us in that area,” he said as Helping Hands aims to keep costs as low as possible and is currently paying no fee for the small space they use. 

Cllr Cuss has noted that there are also concerns about the gym which is currently operating on the site and is popular with locals.

“We don’t want to lose the gym,” he said, adding that the council is trying to help but that commercial property in the area is hard to come by and can often be expensive. 

“There is a demand for this type of facility,” he said, referring to commercial buildings. “If there are any available they’re quite expensive.”

Mr Monk stated that the plans which are currently available are an early draft, with the idea being that Linc gathers the opinions of people in the area before applying for planning permission within three to four months. 

“We haven’t got planning yet. It’s very early stages and we’d like to get people’s feedback,” said Mr Monk. 

It may be the first draft of the plans but Mr Griffiths is willing to go the distance, whatever that may mean. “I’ll fight to the end of it,” he said.