Forest Pennant, a leading natural stone specialist based in the Forest of Dean, has recently supplied Royal Forest Pennant sandstone for the third phase of the extensive town centre rejuvenation of Bridgend.
Over 1400m2 of Royal Forest Pennant paving has been implemented, coupled with additional streetscape accessories to complete the town centre transformation, including fluted drainage channels.
This impressive third phase of the regeneration encompasses Nolton Street and The Rhiw, which are both bustling streets providing main entrance and exit routes for the town centre. The roads are subject to high levels of pedestrian and vehicular traffic throughout the day and feature a combination of commercial and residential premises including hairdressers, dentists, pharmacies, public houses and other businesses. The street regeneration matches earlier phases of work.
As is often expected with town centre schemes, facilitating access of the works with minimum disruption has posed a challenge to Bridgend County Borough Council. Long-term benefits, however, will certainly outweigh the short-term inconvenience for local businesses and the public, however, as the scheme aims to uplift the physical appearance of the district, which will in turn bring more people to the area and improve business prospects.
“This phase further supports our aspirations for Bridgend to become an attractive and prosperous destination. Following successful regenerations of neighbouring towns across the region, we are looking forward to the transformation and all the positive benefits this will bring, for local residents, business owners and tourists visiting the area,” commented Allen Lloyd, project manager at Bridgend County Borough Council.
“Forest Pennant sandstone fulfils our material specification requirements; delivering excellent aesthetics, reducing our whole life cost cycles and helping us minimise our carbon footprint of the stone. We have had very encouraging feedback regarding the appearance of the stone with it being indigenous to this area and the quality of the workmanship, with all our expectations surpassed by the team’s enthusiasm, dedication and flexibility.”
A large majority of the paving supplied for this phase was specified in a mixed colour, with 75mm depth, 3 gauge widths and random lengths, with only 400m2 required in mixed colour setts to a standard format.
Nick Horton, managing director of Forest Pennant, commented: “We are proud to have been successfully specified as the hard landscaping supplier of choice for all three phases of the Bridgend regeneration to date. We have previously supplied Royal Pennant sandstone for the renovation of other nearby towns, such as Abertillery and Ebbw Vale, and it is hugely rewarding to be involved in the transformations and hear about the positive impact they have on the community.”
The regeneration programme is a result of the Council’s successful bid for a European grant worth approximately £9.8m, to improve the appearance of several locations throughout the town centre.