Work on the care home Carmarthenshire Council promised for Cwmgwili is about to start, a year later than the council first said it would.
A contractor has been appointed to knock down the old Plas y Bryn home and build a 60-bed replacement. Construction in Cwmgwili is due to begin this autumn.
When the council unveiled the plans in December 2024 it expected building to start in October 2025, with the home finished by March 2027 and open by that summer. Its latest announcement gives no completion date.
The Welsh Government has approved more than £13m towards the scheme through its Integration and Rebalancing Capital Fund, the council says, with the rest coming from its own capital programme. The announcement does not give a total cost; a figure of around £19.5m was reported in April.
From a failed private home to the council’s first in the area
Plas y Bryn was a privately run home until October 2022, when the council ended its contract with the operator over concerns it could not pay its staff and creditors. Residents were helped to find new homes and the council bought the building the same year.
The council has said there are no in-house local authority care homes in that part of the county. The new Plas y Bryn would be its first there, and the first in Wales registered for both residential and nursing care under one roof.
The three-storey building, designed by Lawray Architects, is meant to be net zero carbon in operation, part of the council’s aim to be a net zero authority by 2030. The old home had 34 beds; the new one will have 60, for older people and people with complex needs.
Wynne Construction, the Bodelwyddan firm, won the contract after a tender. Its managing director, Chris Wynne, said it was “an exciting new chapter” for the company and the start of what it hoped would be a long partnership with the council.
‘A significant milestone’
Cllr Jane Tremlett, the cabinet member for adult social services, children and families, said: “The redevelopment of Plas y Bryn is a significant milestone in our commitment to providing modern, high-quality care facilities for the people of Carmarthenshire.”
She said the investment would “support the integration of health and social care services in the community” as well as improving residents’ quality of life.
Delyth Jewell, the deputy minister for social care, said: “The redevelopment of Plas y Bryn is an example of how we are working with local authorities and health boards to ensure care services are fit for the future.”
The scheme sits inside the West Wales Regional Partnership Board’s capital programme. In September the Welsh Government confirmed £2.1m of separate housing-with-care money for Carmarthenshire without saying which projects would get it.
A population needs assessment for the region has estimated that Carmarthenshire will have a quarter more residents aged 85 and over by 2030 than it had in 2023.
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