The demolition of Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital has been completed to make way for a housing development.
The hospital closed its doors for the final time in November last year as staff and patients are transferred to the new Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr.
Eighty-two homes will now stand in its place – but the historic Beeches building will remain.
The Beeches was built in 1924 and was paid for by the miners of the Rhymney Valley after they each put aside 6d out of their weekly wage of 12s 6d to raise the £30,000 needed.
Huw Lewis, Minister for Housing Regeneration and Heritage started the completion of the demolition of the historic former Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital on Monday.
He said: “I’m happy to be here today and delighted that work to build these much-needed properties is now able to begin. Providing good quality, affordable homes for people across Wales is one of my key priorities. That work is made easier when innovative partnerships such as the one behind this project identify ways to help us meet the growing demand.”
The Beeches Village development is being backed by housing association United Welsh and developer Lovell and has support from Caerphilly Council and the Welsh Government.
The 82 homes will be a mixture of two, three and four-bedroom homes, and a mixture of sale and rental properties.
The £9.6 million scheme is due to be completed in Summer 2014.
Well this report came out on Wednesday and the workers are still hard at it on Thursday; I photographed the work. Probably a pre-arranged photoshoot as there is no factual basis for declaring demolition complete.
The Jury is still out on the issue of saving ` The Beeches` original building on this site.
There are a number of like minded well intentioned people who think they can raise the huge public support and the close to a million pounds ( £1,000,000,) of public money needed to do so under its current proposals for their future uses of the old building. ( That money would build at least 15 ( probably more) new affordable social housing homes for needy families in Caerphilly).
These very well intentioned public spirited people hope they can raise the money through the Assembly Grants System, but, there are very strict criteria to be met before Welsh Civil Servants can honestly dip deep into the public purse to fund the scheme put forward by the group, who, are intent on pressing ahead with a scheme of future uses of the building, which, some civil servants say are flawed. This groups grant applications have already been previously rejected, Even the Welsh Assembly Civil Servants have recognised the fragility of parts of the scheme, its possible replication of other local facilities already available for the same purposes and uses in the area, and, the already underused local community facilities in the area to which Government Money has already been ploughed.
The money this group, the Beeches Community Project, or something very similar to that name, backed by United Welsh Housing Association, an already multi million pound outfit backed by Government funds want to get the project up and off the the ground, would be better spent by the Assembly on other already depleted budgets which serve the Welsh Public better. Health, Education, Roads Projects, infrastructure and capital projects on Hospitals and schools, or, indeed by increasing its local government settlements to all Welsh Local Authorities so that the money is better distributed for the benefit off ALL Welsh Citizens.
From a building of bricks to a glorified portacabin, such is progress.
I was rather under the impression that demolition meant the chimney should be on the ground in the form of rubble. Rather than perilously perched above the roof line. It is particularly novel that the waste bin still stands.