College site plans move as refurb not cost-effective
CAMPUS EYES BUSINESS PARK AS EXISTING FACILITIES‘EXCEED LIFESPAN’
PLANS for the multi million pound relocation of a college campus have been unveiled.
Coleg Menai plans to move from its Ffriddoedd Road site in Bangor to one on the Parc Menai business park on the city’s outskirts.
According to college bosses, despite being based at Ffriddoedd since the late 1950s, urgent maintenance works to bring the “outdated” facilities up to current standards would not be cost-effective.
Previous plans to relocate the campus were withdrawn in 2019, but it follows the relocation of several courses, including its engineering department, to Coleg Menai’s Llangefni site in 2019.
The application, which has been submitted to Gwynedd Council, proposes using the existing building at Parc Menai by carrying out some internal renovation. It stands a stone’s throw away from Coleg Menai’s Art and Design facility which is already based at the park.
Supporting documents note that the poor condition of the Ffriddoedd site buildings is viewed as “an overwhelming repair and maintenance problem”, estimating £18m would need to be spent on it merely to remain weatherproof and operational, with an “urgent need” to find a solution by 2022.
The project, they say, would bring together all of the existing Bangor-based Coleg Menai departments and administrative functions, creating a centre of excellence for creative and digital media.
“The current buildings have already significantly their original design says the application.
“Given their 1960s/70s design, they will require considerable ongoing capital maintenance expenditure just to remain operational. It is estimated that the existing Bangor Campus would require circa £18.17m of urgent maintenance in order to bring it up to present standards.
“However, even if the infrastructure of these present old buildings were repaired to modern standards, they would exceeded lifespan,” remain unappealing and unimpressive 1960s and 1970s structures, on a sloping site that is inherently problematic to make suitable for disabled learners.
“As a result, it would be extremely difficult to change embedded perceptions about what the college is capable of delivering and marketing it a destination of choice for their learners.”
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, set to fall further when the Bangor Gas Centre moves into a new building currently under construction at Llangefni.
But with the proposal set to 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.
It is expected Gwynedd Council’s planning department will consider the application over the coming months.