Council wants to demolish pavilion it spent £40,000 on just last year

Rhiannon James, Local Democracy Reporter

Last year, Caerphilly County Borough Council spent nearly £40,000 upgrading a bowls pavilion, which it now wants to demolish.

In July this year, the council’s cabinet earmarked £250,000 to demolish the bowls pavilion and cadet huts in Morgan Jones Park. This is part of a proposed development in partnership with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Sports pavilion

The huts, along with the 100-year-old bowls facility, will be replaced by a sports pavilion, which is estimated to cost a total of  £768,000.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that the windows and roof of the building, which is set to be demolished, were upgraded at a cost of £39,143.

The work took place during August and September 2021 and was funded by the council’s capital programme. The single glazed windows were changed to UPVC and the roof’s felt, batten and tiles were replaced.

Currently, the Caerphilly squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Cadets are based in a building in Morgan Jones Park, and the Army Cadets hut is situated opposite Penyrheol Community Centre.

The report presented to cabinet on July 27, 2022, stated the condition of the buildings is too “poor” to refurbish.

The proposed development is said to have cross-party support.

At the Cabinet meeting, deputy leader Cllr Jamie Pritchard, who represents the Morgan Jones ward, said he hoped the new facility would increase membership of the bowls club and the cadets.

A spokesperson for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “The site needed essential repairs in 2021. These works were required regardless of whether a new build was planned or not.”