Fedra i ddim cofio pam, ond rhai wythnosau yn ôl fe es ati i ddarllen am stâd Penrhys yn y Rhondda ar Wikipedia. Dyma oedd y darn wnaeth fynd a’m sylw i:

When it was officially opened in 1968, it consisted of 951 houses, at the time the largest public-sector housing venture in Wales.

One of the innovative features of Penrhys village was the district heating system; under an agreement with the National Coal Board, water was heated in a central coal-fired boiler, and a network of insulated pipes served each house with space heating and hot water for domestic use, with the cost of heating included in the rent. This was designed and built during a period of low bulk energy costs, but proved very expensive following the Oil Crisis of 1973 which increased the cost of energy. As heating cost increases had to be absorbed into the rent, the village became uneconomic for those residents who were not reliant on state benefits (which paid housing costs), and many of those in employment left the estate to move to other housing where they could have more control of heating costs.

The outflow of employed residents led to a process of social engineering (whether intentional or not) whereby those on unemployment or other state benefits were relocated into Penrhys from other council run estates (with the initial prospect of them a saving on separate heating costs). As a result of the concentration of socially impoverished residents during the 1970s and 1980s the village gained a poor reputation and was seen by many as an undesirable location. In an attempt to rejuvenate the village, the Priority Estate Programme was undertaken in the late 1980s with all houses refurbished and environmental improvements made throughout the community. This, though, proved unsuccessful as the reputation of Penrhys was so low that new occupants could not be found; this led to newly refurbished houses being vandalised as they stood empty. This in turn fueled the area’s negative reputation.

By the 1990s the local authorities had begun a relocation program for Penrhys, with many buildings demolished once the tenants had been relocated. By the early 21st century much of the village had been demolished, leaving around 300 buildings remaining.

Roeddwn i wedi darllen o’r blaen fod rhannau helaeth o’r stâd wedi ei dymchwel ond fod y ffyrdd dal mewn lle ac felly bod y cyfan yn edrych yn rhyfedd braidd. Dyma fynd ati i edrych ar y golygfeydd rhyfedd o Penrhys ar Google Map a Google Street view.


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