Council buys £1.8m farm for uni campus plans

A council has bought a farm valued at more than £1.8m as part of plans to deliver vocational and post-16 courses including agriculture on a university campus.

Ceredigion council leader Brian Davies said a loan was provided by the Welsh government to enable the authority to buy the farm, which adjoins the University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) campus in Lampeter.

At the start of the year UWTSD announced undergraduate teaching at the campus would end in September, with students able to continue their studies in Carmarthen.

The authority said its aim was to "secure a sustainable future for the campus" by developing new courses there.

Following the announcement about the future of the campus there were concerns in Lampeter about the impact the course closures would have on the town.

At the time, almost 6,000 people signed a petition calling on the university to provide a sustainable future for the historic campus.

In recent months university chiefs have been in discussion with Ceredigion council about using part of the campus.

The local authority has now said the campus plans to deliver post-16 vocational courses with an emphasis on agriculture, horticulture, gastronomy and construction.

Davies said buying the neighbouring 150-acre farm, including outbuildings and a farmhouse, was "crucial" for the delivery of a post-16 course in agriculture which was not currently available in the rural county.

He said Welsh government ministers had been "kept in the loop" about the council's plans from the very outset, adding: "They can see the benefits of the vision here, and they were happy to give us the money to purchase the farm."

An online advert for the farm - called Llettytwppa - listed an asking price of more than £1.8m.

Davies would not specify how much the council had paid for it, but said it was "the market value".

The Lampeter campus is the oldest in Wales and has been described as the birthplace of higher education in the country.

It was founded in 1822 as St David's College to provide education for members of the clergy.

Over time a range of new courses were introduced, and it developed into a university, teaching both undergraduates and postgraduates.

But in recent years the number of students in Lampeter declined and in January UWTSD confirmed 200 years of undergraduate teaching would come to an end, with humanities courses being transferred to its campus in Carmarthen in September.

The university had said previously that, with just 92 undergraduate students, it was "not viable" to maintain the infrastructure of the campus, which cost £2.7m per year to run.

In March UWTSD started to meet with stakeholders, including Ceredigion council, to discuss what were described as "viable proposals" for the future of the campus, and, in June, UWTSD and Ceredigion council said they were exploring plans to develop post-16 vocational training at the campus.

Ceredigion council said other vocational and skills-based courses would be developed over the next three years and it aimed to provide additional community facilities on the site.

A-level courses would not be provided on the campus, which could not compete with school sixth forms in terms of academic provision, the council added.

Davies said the campus had "significant potential" and the local authority wanted "to secure a sustainable future for the campus".

He added the vocational courses would enable students to develop the skills required to meet employer needs around the region, with young people able to stay in their communities.

Emlyn Dole, chair of the university's council, said the purchase was an "exciting opportunity" which would strengthen community links and support the rural economy.

A series of public meetings are to be held over the coming months to discuss the plans.