Gwgan Homes

Two school friends who went their separate ways will be reunited this week when they become neighbours in a £1m development to answer the affordable housing needs of one of Gwynedd’s most sparsely populated communities.

Meira Evans and Beti Williams were childhood mates in the village of Garndolbenmaen in Gwynedd over 50 years ago. Now they are tenants in a new ten-home development in the village by the area’s largest housing association, Cymdeithas Tai Eryri.

“It was originally planned to build three-bedroom homes only,” said Cymdeithas Tai Eryri Chief Executive, Walis George.
“But a local housing needs consultative survey identified the need for different types of affordable homes to suit different family requirements,” he added.

As a result the Bro Gwgan development, in partnership with Gwynedd Council and the Dolbenmaen Community Council, includes a five-bedroom house and a four-bedroom house along with four three-bedroom houses and four two-bedroom bungalows. One of the homes will cater for the needs of a disabled child.

The land for the development was provided by Gwynedd Council and the timber-framed eco-friendly dwellings were officially opened at 11.30am, Friday, December 7, 2007, by the National Assembly for Wales’ Presiding Officer and Meirionnydd/Dwyfor AM, Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, along with Gwynedd Council’s Housing Portfolio holder, Councillor Linda Wyn Jones. Members of the Press were cordially invited.

“All the homes will be offered to local people with identified housing needs on a tenancy or part-ownership basis,” added Walis George.
“We and our partners are very aware of the housing difficulties facing families in rural areas and this is an excellent example of what can be done to relieve those difficulties in one rural community,” added.

The Bro Gwgan development is named after a medieval warrior of gigantic proportions with local links who is said to have been a contemporary of King Arthur. The name was submitted by a local eight year old schoolboy, Gethin Jones, following a competition between pupils at the Ysgol Garndolbenmaen Primary School to find a suitable name for the new homes.

“I’m very happy to have won the competition,” said Gethin.
“Whenever I pass the homes I take pride in the signs that refer to Gwgan, our own local giant,” he added.

The Dolbenmaen Community Council area covers over 20,000 acres and has a population of up to 1,200 – that’s 0.06 persons per acre!

Cymdeithas Tai Eryri manages a total of 1,700 homes in Gwynedd and Anglesey.

 

PIC: Gethin Jones from Ysgol Garndolbenmaen with the sign to Bro Gwgan, the name he submitted to a competition to find a suitable name for the new Cymdeithas Tai Eryri homes in the village.