Plans for family support centre on major Bangor housing estate set to move forward

Plans for a family support centre on one of Gwynedd’s largest housing estates are moving closer to being realised.

On Tuesday the council’s cabinet is expected to release funds to develop a feasibility study for a proposed integrated health, family and well-being centre on Bangor’s Maesgeirchen estate.

Such a development, described as a “one-stop shop”, would see several agencies join under one roof to provide primary care, community, family health and therapy services for Maesgeirchen’s roughly 4,000 residents.

The nation’s third largest single housing estate behind Merthyr Tydfil’s Gurnos and Caia Park in Wrexham, the cabinet report describes Maesgeirchen as among the most deprived communities in Wales.

Having set aside £500,000 for Gwynedd council’s contribution towards the scheme, the authority is planning to develop the centre alongside housing association Adra and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

“Although the council currently has a presence on the estate, employees and service users have reported that the services available are not easily accessible, and there is no suitable, friendly, comfortable and less formal space on the estate where services and the community can come together to work together,” notes the report.

“Despite the barriers, residents and workers report that there is a good relationship between workers and families on the estate, with evidence showing that families repeatedly turn to workers when needed.

“The services based on the estate wish to work in a different way, more connected to each other and to the community itself.”

It goes on to state that the centre would be planned alongside the Maes-Ni group.

“The aim is to develop a viable plan for a multi-purpose Integrated Center on the estate that would meet the needs of the residents and provide the council with the opportunity to overcome the current barriers in delivering support services.

“Following completion of feasibility work on the needs, costs and models of service delivery and site management, a further report will be submitted before moving on to the next stage.”

Welcoming the development, local councillor Nigel Pickavance said: “I can’t express enough the need for such a centre in Maesgeirchen.

“At the moment we have some great services in Maesgeirchen and partners, however it is concerning that whilst work is often carried out in partnership, communication often breaks down with residents having to move from building to building, leaving the estate to travel for some of these services which often fails logistically.

“We have also identified the need for community cohesion since the loss of the Maesgeirchen Social Club.

“The Community felt a great blow with this loss and this multi-function building could have this element included.

“I can only see this being of great benefit to our community and I support the idea and hope it will develop into reality.”

Fellow Marchog councillor, Dylan Fernley, added: “Our community has done much work on bringing people together to address the limited facilities we have within our community.

“Developing a community hub that could include space for agencies to work from, and a leisure and well-being aspect would greatly benefit our residents.

“We are a large community, with a variety of needs and aspirations, and this project is an opportunity for us to work together to improve our community”.

The proposals will be discussed when the cabinet meets in Caernarfon on Tuesday, March 10.

By Gareth Williams – Local Democracy Reporter