Bronllys Well Being Park

 The longest discussion I had at the Volunteer Fair was with the lady from Bronllys Well Being Park.  This is a Community Land Trust, and has been working for several years now to improve the facilities at Bronllys Hospital, collaborating with the Health Board as much as they can.

Sadly, any plans they had for the future of the Mansion House, at the top of the site, cannot happen, as the Mansion House and Walled Garden were sold off in 2018.  There are plans to turn it into a 'boutique hotel', apparently.

They have produced a large, and very professional looking, booklet detailing what the existing services are on the site, and what they hope to achieve over the next ten years.

The present buildings on the site are pretty old, and not considered to be fit for purpose in the long term.  The group wants the buildings to be replaced, possibly on the same footprint, with new buildings that also incorporate the principles of sustainability.  They want any future buildings on the site to be designed and built to Passivhous standards - meaning that very little heating will be needed, and the buildings would be connected to onsite energy generation and waste management systems, including solar panels, turbines, ground source heat pumps and grey water recycling systems.  None of this is experimental - similar buildings have been built for years, and the technology is tried and tested.

They also want to put in electrical points to charge electric cars and buses, and make the site into a local transport hub.

The whole site is Grade II listed on the list of Historic Gardens of Special Interest with CADW, though only the orchard is being maintained at the moment.  The orchard includes some rare apple varieties, and a local group is already working to improve it, and also grow damsons, pears and other fruits and berries.  They hope to expand to bee keeping and vegetable growing.  When the hospital first opened, it was almost self sufficient in fruit and vegetables, grown on site.  The BWBP wants to put in allotments around the site.

The hospital also once had its own croquet/bowls lawn and tennis court, which they want to repair.  There are also two listed buildings on the site - the chapel, which is closed at the moment because the building is unsafe, and the Basil Webb Hall, presently used by the Health Board as office and meeting space.  There is also the Concert Hall, which has been used over the past three years as a vaccination centre for Covid, and which several local businesses have expressing interest in using for exercise classes.  It would also be suitable for showing films and having theatrical performances.

They want the chapel to be refurbished as a cultural hub for the area, as a venue for arts, creative activities and performance as well as religious services.  They are supported in this by the local Veterans Group.

They want to provide new buildings for the existing services of the Adult Mental Health Unit, the Ambulance Station (which is presently in a fairly inaccessible part of the site), turn the old Nurses' Home into co-care housing (it's currently the Pain Clinic), and provide homes for families which have a disabled member.  The Pain Clinic would have a new, purpose-built building.

They want to provide a community hire, restore and repair shop, for people to borrow and repair tools, and a nursery for local children, as well as a Dementia Home for older people to live with support.

One of the big projects the BWBP wants to do is to move Llewelyn Ward down to a new building near the Concert Hall, where the same medical services would be provided.

As well as maintaining and improving the medical facilities onsite, the group wants to tackle the housing problems of the area by building affordable housing for local young families, housing for older people, and housing for people who need carers.  These would be built in small clusters around the site.

Another project they are interested in is providing space for the Men in Sheds group - and a Women in Sheds group, too!

Another proposal is for Shepherds Hut accommodation around the site for vulnerable people who need some peace and quiet for a while, such as military veterans.

And they want to provide a wildlife pond for wild swimming, and plant more trees.

Some of these projects are already running, and if they get only a fraction of what they are proposing it will enhance the site greatly.  I hope they get it all!

So, THERE WILL BE A MEETING at Talgarth Town Hall on Thursday 23rd March from 7pm to 8.30pm, with refreshments afterwards.  This is advertised as a Health and Well-Being Forum, and they will be discussing health and well-being issues relevant to South Powys.  There will also be a video of support from the actor Michael Sheen, who has already taken an interest in the project.