Update on Ynysangharad War Memorial Park

An update on the reopening of Ynysangharad War Memorial Park and latest position at the National Lido of Wales, Lido Ponty, has been provided at today’s meeting of the Major Incident Recovery Board.

Leader of the Council and Chair of the Major Incident Recovery Board, Councillor Andrew Morgan, said: “At today’s meeting of the Major Incident Recovery Board, Officers provided an update on the range of actions the Council has been undertaking in the aftermath of three consecutive weekends of storms.

“Whilst our focus in the main has quite rightly been on assisting those residents and businesses affected by internal flood damage in supporting them as quickly as possible, we are now in a position to announce our intention to re-open Ynysangharad War Memorial Park on Saturday, April 4^th.

“Our close engagement with businesses in Pontypridd has clearly fed back that re-opening the Park is a key priority for them in recognition of the wider impact that it has on trade in the town and, following the clean-up works entering their final stages, we are now in a position to announce an opening date.

“Unfortunately, some areas of the Park, including the Café, public toilets, Bowls Pavilion and the Lido will remain out of use, with further updates to be provided as appropriate.

“Nevertheless, this will no doubt be a big boost for Pontypridd, which remains open for business, as we approach the Easter holidays.”

Today, it was announced that the target for re-opening the Park is Saturday, 4^th April, in time for the Easter holidays and to coincide with this, Danter’s Funfair will be coming to the Park between Monday, April 6^th and Tuesday, 21^st April.  Further information on some of the specific areas of work that are in progress are detailed below:

Lido Play (Children’s Play Area)

This has been cleaned several times and the last load of new sand is due to be delivered in the coming days.  A new zip wire has also been ordered and the fencing works are planned to be completed in the next few weeks.

Cricket Pavilion and Football Changing Rooms

Both of these buildings avoided any flood damage and are in a good condition, and their respective availability will be dependent on pitch assessments.

Fencing

The Council is in the process of replacing the approximately 400m of fencing alongside the river.  It is hoped that permanent fencing will be in place by the target opening date.

Llys Cadwyn Footbridge

Work has progressed well on the installation of the new structure and a completion date will be announced shortly.  The existing footbridge (Marks and Spencer Bridge) remains closed to the public as the structure represents a risk and is likely to need replacing.

Café and Public Toilets

Due to the extent of the damage sustained, however, it is highly unlikely that both the Café and public toilets will be in a position to re-open fully until a later date and the Council will communicate any developments with residents at the earliest opportunity.  Temporary catering outlets and temporary public toilets will be arranged in the meantime for use during the Easter holidays.

Bowls Pavilion

Similarly, this building suffered serious damage during Storm Dennis and whilst Transport for Wales volunteers made some progress cleaning it last week, there remains a significant amount of work to be undertaken and an update will be provided in due course.

National Lido of Wales, Lido Ponty

Clean-up works are continuing and electrical connections have now been re-established, although further inspections are required, meaning that it is unlikely that the Lido will open during the summer season. Further information will be provided later in the summer on the progress of the repairs.