A report, due to be discussed later today by members of Bridgend Council’s (newly-retitled) Communities, Environment & Housing Scrutiny Committee, will update councillors on BCBC’s Community Asset Transfer policy (pdf).
Community Asset Transfer (CAT) is when a council-owned asset is leased to community organisations, such as sports clubs or town & community councils, who also take on responsibility for management and upkeep. This is usually in exchange for capital funding from BCBC (to pay for upgrades etc.).
Over 100 CATs completed or in progress
The Council want to put in place a five-person team to support CAT. This will include a dedicated CAT officer, a soon-to-be-appointed Town & Community Council Liason Officer, a green spaces assistant, a locum solicitor (to help speed up legal hold-ups) and a surveyor.
To date, 50 CATs have been completed, the majority of which involve sports clubs, with (by my count) 19 involving town & community councils (pdf).
As of June 2025, a further 58 CATs are in different stages of progress.
Capital funding “running low”
Over three quarters (£1.97 million, or 77%) of the original £2.48 million in capital funding set aside for CAT projects has either been spent or committed to projects to date.
As things stand, BCBC expects the value of expected bids to outstrip the available money by more than £300,000. If the remaining funding isn’t topped up in the future, officers warn that clubs and organisations may lose faith in the CAT process if their expectations can’t be met. Some deteriorating facilities may end up closing entirely or be handed back to BCBC.
Some projects have managed to secure external funding – such as a partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to upgrade tennis courts (such as those pictured in Maesteg).
A bid has been made to the Cymru Football Foundation and Sport Wales for an upgrade to the artificial sports pitch at Bryntirion Comprehensive.
The CAT Officer is also working to secure some funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund – one project of note being a proposed pavilion, cafe and public toilets at the northern end of Newbridge Fields in Bridgend (which the wording suggests will be shared with Bridgend Bowls Club).
