Hospital site housing plans backed

Bruce Sinclair – Local Democracy Reporter

Amended plans to redevelop a former hospital site to create new affordable homes for older people, offices and public spaces have been given the go-ahead.

Ceredigion County Council approved Wales & West Housing’s previous plans to maintain the original Cardigan Hospital Priory House, believed to be John Nash’s first country house, as a focal point of a development in June 2021.

Those plans included 34 apartments for local people, new offices for Wales & West Housing, a regional base for its in-house maintenance company Cambria Maintenance Services, a public café and gardens.

Demolition work began the following spring, followed by ground levelling work, but construction was delayed due to a significant increase in building materials costs, a significant flood event affecting the car park, and in-house concerns about residents’ car parking provision.

Since then, amended plans have been submitted which include reducing the number of apartments proposed, from 34 to 20 one-bed units, with 20 residents parking spaces above flooding levels, and reducing the scale of the proposed Cambria building.

Benefit

A supporting statement said the scheme “includes a significant community benefit in the form of a new café/ hub, designed as part of the upgrading of the Priory House, and which will become an important amenity for this part of the town, with extensive views over the River Teifi,”

It added: “St Mary’s church has been given far more breathing space, by demolition of the 20th century hospital buildings that used to suffocate it, and in this application, the removal of Block D from the 2021 consent means that the east end of the church will now be publicly seen from Priory Bridge and for those accessing the town from the east on Pont-Y-Cleifion.

“Although this application has made major changes to the 2021 consented proposals, there are advantages in planning terms, including a reduction in massing onto Pont y Cleifion; better views of the east end of the church from public viewpoints; the removal of plant from the roof of the office building and a reduction in height of the office atrium to the betterment of Priory House.”

An officer report recommending approval said: “The proposed 20 one-bedroom apartments will be located to the northwest of the site, and will not be available for open market sale and residents will be selected from Ceredigion’s housing lists.”

It added: “The application proposes the same type of development as approved under the 2021 permission, in terms of providing affordable housing, office space and community provision. The principle of development has already therefore been established as being acceptable under the 2021 permission and the amended proposal does not alter the acceptability of the principle of development.

“Whilst the reduction in the number of affordable units is unfortunate, the application states that the scheme is unviable at present, and therefore the previously consented affordable units are unlikely to be built, hence the revised scheme. The revised scheme retains 20 apartments which will contribute positively towards meeting affordable housing need.”

The application was conditionally approved by Ceredigion planners.