Bridgend Council has agreed to vary the conditions of a £2.5million loan to bring a brownfield site in Maesteg into use for housing.
The loan was agreed between BCBC and the Welsh Government in 2015 to fund remedial works at the former Maesteg Washery.
A report discussed at this month’s full council meeting (pdf) notes that previous ambitions for the former Washery have been downscaled.
Originally, several parcels of land were earmarked for development.
Following further viability surveys, this has been cut back to solely “Maesteg Washery West” – land to the west of Ffordd y Dysgu/the Maesteg Comprehensive School access road.
This requires the terms of the Welsh Government loan to be altered.
The Maesteg Washery West site – once remediated – could provide land for up to 66 homes, but this depends on the outcome of further surveys undertaken in August-September 2022. The Welsh Government’s preference is for any homes built at the site to be social housing.
If the most recent surveys show that the land is too difficult to develop, the remainder of the funding will be returned to the Welsh Government by the end of March 2023.
During the meeting, the Corporate Director for Communities, Janine Nightingale, also told councillors that the remainder of the former Maesteg Comprehensive Lower School site on Bridgend Road is in the hands of the council’s corporate landlord but no use for it has yet been decided.
Part of the site (the former playing fields) has already been redeveloped as an extra care facility and housing.
