Plans revised for the redevelopment of the former Cardigan Hospital site
We have announced a revised plan for the redevelopment of the former Cardigan Hospital site to create new homes for older people, offices and public spaces.
Ceredigion County Council approved WWH’s plans to maintain the original Priory House as a focal point of a development in June 2021. The 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 as a result of the economic situation affecting the cost and availability of materials and labour in the construction sector.
Archaeological work has now restarted on site to make sure that no important remains are disturbed when building starts. This work is due to be completed in the coming weeks.
WWH is also working with architects to redesign the development, the result of which will reduce the number of apartments to 20, provide extra parking for residents and open up views of St Mary’s Church and the Priory House.
Gareth Thomas, Regional Development Manager at Wales & West Housing said: “Like many house builders, we have faced a number of challenges with materials and labour post-pandemic, which we could not have foreseen, and these have delayed the project longer than we would have liked.
“After we demolished the hospital buildings, we had a lot of comments from people in the town telling us how much they enjoyed being able to see St Mary’s Church.
“We reflected on the development and felt that our current design didn’t make the most of the view of the splendid eastern window of St Mary’s Church, which is next to our site.
“We have decided to revise our plans to take out one of the original apartment blocks. This will open the view to both the back of Priory House and the eastern window of St Mary’s Church, meaning that everyone visiting Cardigan via Pont y Cleifion will be able to enjoy that view at the gateway to the town.
Gareth Thomas, Regional Development Manager at Wales & West Housing
“This is an important development for us, and the town, so we have always wanted to do the right thing. We believe that our revised design will significantly enhance the scheme for the people who will live and work there and the visitors and local people who use the public areas.”
The next stage of the development will be a pre-application consultation, where the revised designs will be unveiled and feedback from local people will be considered before the new planning application is submitted to Ceredigion County Council.
If permission is granted, construction work is expected to restart next summer and will take approximately two years to complete.