UNIVERSITY chiefs have announced plans for a food village in Lampeter that would include an Aldi supermarket.

Local councillors held a meeting with University of Wales Trinity Saint David earlier this week where plans were unveiled for a food village on the site of the university’s playing fields at Ponfaen.

The plans shown to councillors included a 1,300 sq m Aldi store, car park, a food village, one rugby pitch a renovated pavilion, a community garden and a biodiversity area.

Speaking after the meeting, county councillor Hag Harris said: “We had a full and frank exchange of views with the vice-chancellor Medwin Hughes over the university’s handling of things in the past and were shown a sketch of what the food village site would look like.

“They do seem to be trying to squeeze an awful lot on the site.”

The proposal also includes the creation of a new food and rural enterprise academy – to be named Canolfan Tir Glas – on the university’s Lampeter campus.

In order to facilitate such a development, the university says it has been working closely with the discount food retailer Aldi to develop a food village concept that could contribute significantly to the economic regeneration of the town and the surrounding area as well as promoting Lampeter as a destination of choice for shoppers from across the region and beyond.

The food village would be located on part of the university’s playing fields at Pontfaen and would include a new Aldi neighbourhood food store together with a cluster of surrounding local food cabins to promote local produce and to encourage the creation of new microbusinesses linked to the food industry.

The remainder of the land would be retained by the university for recreational use by its students and the local community.

The Aldi store would create up to 40 new jobs in Lampeter.

"The close working relationship between the university and Aldi provides an opportunity to develop an exciting vision for Lampeter and the surrounding area," explained Emyr Jones, head of property development at the university.

"It enables the university to link its campus with the community and to act as a catalyst for further developments linked to the food industry within the county."

Rob Jones, Aldi regional property director, added: “We’re really excited to be working with UWTSD and to form part of its exciting campus development plans.

"Currently customers are travelling to Carmarthen and beyond to access a discount food offering, so this will represent a significant improvement on journey times, and also encourage more people to stay and shop locally through linked trips to the food village and other outlets in the town."

He went on to say: “It is still early in the process, however we are looking forward to collaborating closely with the university to ensure that the benefits of our joint proposals – such as increased shopping choice locally, a significant number of well-paid jobs and the economic benefits of this multi-million pound investment – feed into the broader university vision.

"We will be undertaking a full programme of public consultation in due course to provide further information and seek local feedback on the plans.”

As part of the development the university is very keen to invest in the pavilion and the playing field, ensuring that the enhanced facilities will be available for use by both students and sports clubs within the community.

“Only some 30 per cent of the land will be used for the food village development,” explained Mr Jones.

“The remaining piece of land will be used for recreational purposes with the pavilion being upgraded in order for it to be developed into a community resource.

"Its location will also allow it to support activities associated with the food village with exhibitions and masterclasses being held there.”

The Canolfan Tir Glas and food village initiatives form part of the university’s long-term commitment to Lampeter as one of the town’s core institutions, they said.

"The university is fully committed to the Lampeter campus and its humanities-based curriculum," explained Gwilym Dyfri Jones, the campus provost.

"The university has invested in excess of £10m in the campus infrastructure during the last decade and will continue to do so within the context of specific projects such as the Canolfan Tir Glas and food village initiatives that will allow the campus to grow in future years.

"For Lampeter to survive it has to change and take advantage of new opportunities that may come its way. The status quo is not an option."

He added: “The university is keen to respond to some of the challenges highlighted in recent meetings of the Lampeter Transition campaign.

“As a key institution within the town, the proposal not only provides Lampeter with an exciting marketing and branding opportunity, but it also allows the University to work within its community, collaborating with a number of key partners to regenerate the local economy, and to ensure the long-term prosperity and resilience of Lampeter and the surrounding area.

"The university looks forward to celebrating the bicentenary of its establishment in Lampeter in 1822 and its close association with the town."