An appeal has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate over Coleg Menai’s bid to relocate its Bangor campus to Parc Menai, after complaints Gwynedd Council’s Local Planning Authority (LPA) were taking too long to make a decision.
The Grŵp is proposing to move Coleg Menai’s existing provision from the Ffriddoedd Road and Friars site in Bangor to the Tŷ Menai building on Parc Menai, which has stood largely empty in recent years.
If granted, the change of use permission would see the creation of cutting-edge, hi-tech facilities for students at Tŷ Menai, as well as strengthened links between further education and future employers.
The new Centre will offer a range of Lifelong Learning opportunities with targeted courses for Service Industries and other key business sectors.
A major feature of the Tŷ Menai development would be the consolidation of the Grŵp’s creative industries provision into a Centre of Excellence, with courses ranging from performing arts and music technology to games design and TV production all available on the same site.
The Campus would also house modern training facilities for other priority sectors identified by the Welsh Government and North Wales Regional Skills Partnership, including hospitality and catering.
The Grŵp has already acquired the adjacent Llwyn Brain building, with a further £4m investment already underway. Llwyn Brain will become a hub for the Busnes@LlandrilloMenai provision, including the delivery of apprenticeships, professional and work based programmes.
According to The Grŵp, despite being based at the Ffriddoedd site since the late 1950s, urgent maintenance works to bring the “outdated” facilities up to current standards would not be cost effective.
The poor condition of the Ffriddoedd site buildings is viewed as “an overwhelming repair and maintenance problem”, estimating that £18m would need to be spent on it merely to remain weatherproof and operational with an “urgent need” to find a solution by 2022.
Student numbers at Bangor have already declined over recent years, with the opening of the new Engineering Centre of Excellence in Llangefni resulting in a 30% drop, this is set to fall further when the Bangor Gas Centre moves into a new building currently under construction at Llangefni.
The proposal would consolidate all teaching of creative and digital studies, with 200 learners being relocated from Llangefni to Bangor, if approved it’s expected that around 520 students would be enrolled at the new Bangor campus at Tŷ Menai.
Planning permission for change of use of building from office to class room use, alterations to the existing access road, coach parking, pedestrian link paths and associated landscaping at Tŷ Menai, Parc Menai, was submitted and validated on 16 December 2020 and the statutory eight-week period to determine the application came to an end on 10 February 2021.
The appeal has been submitted on the grounds of non-determination of the planning application within a reasonable timescale.
