Plans to relocate the Coleg Menai campus on Ffriddoedd Road in Bangor to Parc Menai, have been approved on appeal. The project, costing around £13m to modernise the learning and training facilities available locally for young people, will be jointly funded by the Welsh Government and Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.
Inspectors at Planning and Environment Decisions Wales approved the appeal, despite opposition from Gwynedd council.
The appeal had been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate last August, after complaints Gwynedd Council’s Local Planning Authority (LPA) were taking too long to make a decision.
The Grŵp proposed 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.
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 will 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 will 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to The Grŵp, despite being based at the Ffriddoedd site since the late 1950s, urgent maintenance works to bring the “outdated” facilities up to current standards would not be cost effective.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.
The proposal will consolidate all teaching of creative and digital studies, with 200 learners being relocated from Llangefni to Bangor, it’s expected that around 520 students would be enrolled at the new Bangor campus at Tŷ Menai.
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai chief executive Dafydd Evans said: “We have long identified that the Ffriddoedd site has come to the end of its useful life and that the young people of Gwynedd deserve better. Given that Tŷ Menai is positioned alongside businesses, it is perfectly located for greater partnership working with industry. This will help us to ensure that the learning and training opportunities offered to young people meet the skills requirements of local employers.”
Coleg Menai Principal Aled Jones-Griffith added: “By aligning education with business, we believe that this development would also be a catalyst to reignite Parc Menai as an attractive destination for new companies. But most importantly, it would give the young people coming to Coleg Menai access to the high quality sector leading educational facilities.”
