Politicians view building progress at Wales’ first decarbonisation hub
Adra, North Wales’ largest housing association welcomed a delegation of Members of the Senedd and UK Parliament representing the Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituencies to the site of a brand new decarbonisation hub in Penygroes, the first of its kind in Wales and the UK.
Liz Saville Roberts MP (Dwyfor Meirionnydd), Sian Gwenllian MS (Arfon), Mabon ap Gwynfor MS (Dwyfor Meirionnydd), as well as Nia Jeffreys, Deputy Leader of Cyngor Gwynedd and Lead Member for Economy and Regeneration visited the hub, named Tŷ Gwyrddfai today (Thursday, 5 January).
The hub, which is being assisted through the Community Renewal Fund and Transforming Towns monies, is located on the site of the former Northwood tissue factory in the Nantlle Valley and will provide a training facility for demonstrating and installing products that form part of the process of decarbonising homes. The hub will support communities across Dwyfor and Meirionnydd and will address the lack of training facilities for young people in these areas.
The training facilities, being supported by Bangor University and Grŵp Llandrillo Menai will open later this year. Travis Perkins are also using the site as a depot to supply Adra and its contractors. Welcome Furniture are also operating from the site.
Iwan Trefor Jones, Adra’s Deputy Chief Executive, said: “We were delighted to welcome the delegation to Tŷ Gwyrddfai to see at first hand the exciting and ground-breaking work that’s underway.
“The decarbonisation hub project is very close to our hearts at Adra. We have made a commitment to carry out energy efficient works on 1,000 of our homes by 2025. We want to reduce emissions from our homes (which will in turn assist with fuel poverty and cost of living), increase the use of materials from sustainable sources and train our in-house workforce in green technologies and construction.
“The focus of Tŷ Gwyrddfai is also on providing state of the art training facilities for other organisations to use, creating jobs in the Gwynedd area and strengthening the local supply chain through our on-going association with Travis Perkins.
“We’re delighted to be working closely with a range of ambitious and forward thinking organisations who are committed to supporting Adra in leading on this centre of excellence right in the heart of the Nantlle Valley”.
Siân Gwenllian MS, said: “In a time of economic hardship, I welcome a cause to celebrate.
“The loss of Northwood Hygiene was a heavy blow to an area that has already faced a number of economic challenges. I said in 2020 that the loss of 94 jobs in Dyffryn Nantlle is equivalent to the loss of thousands of jobs in a more populated area of Wales
“But now we can look forward to the future, and celebrate that Dyffryn Nantlle will be home to innovative and important work in the fight against climate change
“Ty Gwyrddfai is among a number of exciting developments in the economy in my constituency in Arfon. This is the type of sustainable, high-skill employment that the area desperately needs and I would like to thank all the partners involved for their joint-up thinking and ambition.”
Liz Saville Roberts MP and Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said: “It was fantastic to visit the Tŷ Gwyrddfai site in Penygroes to learn more about this exciting project which, once fully operational, will harness expertise from the fields of research, development and construction and provide cutting edge training facilities to facilitate the decarbonisation of local homes.
“This ground-breaking hub will play a key part in the development of green energy technologies, whilst the partnering of Prifysgol Bangor and Grŵp Llandrillo Menai will address the deficit in training opportunities for our young people in the fields of construction and energy efficiency – leading to the creation of local jobs. This unique venture, which brings together experts in housing, research, construction and education will serve as an important benchmark on the pathway to net zero.
“We are very much looking forward to seeing this hub of excellence take shape – cementing Gwynedd as a lead player in the decarbonisation process.”