CONCERNS have been raised over the delay of a new development which will replace a former care home in Porthmadog.

The £8.5m Grwp Cynefin project to re-develop Hafod y Gest, which has been empty since April 2014, received the green light from Gwynedd Council planners a year ago.

The proposal is to demolish the existing single-storey building and the adjacent Noddfa Madog day centre and erect an extra care residential development in its place which will provide 40 residential units, 26 with two bedrooms and 14 with one – offering 24-hour care.

However, Porthmadog town councillor Richard Williams has raised his concerns surrounding the delay in the work on the site.

He said: “There seems to be no movement at all on the former Hafod y Gest site and I was told work would be starting in the summer.

“It has been closed for some time now and I’d like to know what is happening there.

“When it closed it was a great loss to the community and we need the services back as soon as possible.

“I believe we need to know what is happening there as people in the community are asking the same questions.

“I’d like to know what the timetable is and when the work is actually going to start as it’s been a year now since it was granted planning permission.

“They were in such a hurry to close the place down, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry to get it up and running again.”

Cllr Selwyn Griffiths, county councillor and Porthmadog chairman, said he believes the work at the site will begin March next year.

He said: “As county councillors we do receive updates every three months of what is happening and I believe Grwp Cynefin are in the process of getting contractors together to carry out the work.

“I believe the work will begin in March next year.”

A Grwp Cynefin spokesperson said: “The tender process for the Hafod y Gest extra care scheme has been successful, and in line with the scheduled timetable work will start on site in the new year.”