FOLLOWING recent secret discussions where Ceredigion’s council backed the purchase of a new “strategic asset,” the council has announced it has bought a farm, said to be valued at £1.8m, to help deliver vocational and post-16 courses in Lampeter.
The farm purchase, next to the University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) campus in Lampeter, follows the announcement earlier this year of the end of undergraduate teaching at what is Wales’s oldest campus, with courses transferred to Carmarthen.
At the time of the announcement, UWTSD said the number of students enrolling at Lampeter had made undergraduate provision unviable, with just 92 students remaining, Humanities courses transferring to Carmarthen from the start of the new academic year in September.
At the June and July meetings of Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet, members backed approval the purchase of what was described as a “strategic asset,” funded through a loan from the Welsh Government.
The actual details were kept from the public, the details only available for members, with strict warnings issued about disclosing information; the actual decision made after the press and public were excluded from the meeting.
The sparse reports provided little further detail but made tentative hints about it being part of a wider project.
At the June meeting, members were warned that any disclosure or publishing of ‘sensitive’ information relating to the acquisition of the ‘asset’ would be considered as a breach of their code of conduct.
After the details were kept private, members authorised the purchase of the asset, and agreed a further report be received following completion of the legal agreement to purchase it, to provide the public with more detail around the acquisition.
While the nature, scale, cost, or even geographical location, of the asset were not disclosed, it was speculated widely that it may be connected with the purchase of a site in Lampeter.
On Friday, via the BBC, it was announced that council leader Brian Davies said a loan was provided by the Welsh government to enable the authority to buy the 150-acre farm, Llettytwppa, which was listed at a market value of some £1.8m, plans to deliver post-16 vocational courses emphasising agriculture, horticulture, gastronomy and construction.
Speaking to the BBC, it was said it was hoped other vocational courses would be developed in future, but A-level courses would not be provided.
Ceredigion County Council has been contacted for a statement.
