Plans to build 18 homes on site of a former Penparcau care home have been given the go-ahead after a housing association acquiesced to councillor demands that a connecting path was installed to make the site more accessible to the rest of the village and lessen any road safety risk.

Earlier this year, Ceredigion councillors refused to sign off on plans by Wales and West Housing to demolish the former Bodlondeb care home as well as the former school that sits at the site entrance on Penybont hill.

A full application for 18 homes on the site went before the council’s development management committee on 12 March.

It was recommended for approval, but members decided to delay a decision until they could visit the site amid concerns over road safety, access, and the loss of a path connecting the homes to the rest of the village.

Local councillors Shelley Childs and Carl Worrall raised concerns over access to the proposed new homes leading onto the A4120, while councillors also called for a connecting path to make the site more accessible to the rest of the village.

The application went before the committee on 9 April – again recommended for approval – despite Wales and West Housing refusing to act on councillors’ concerns.

But councillors stood their ground and agreed to only approve the plans if a suitable footpath access for the site is added to the scheme, otherwise they would turn it down.

Members heard on 9 April that planning officers “tried very hard” to get Wales & West Housing to agree on installing a connecting footpath, but that the housing association was “adamant” that they wouldn’t provide one and it “would not be possible without completely redesigning the scheme” and could compromise grant funding for the development.

The plans were finally given the go-ahead under delegated powers by Ceredigion County Council planning officers on 16 July after talks led to the new footpath being included in the conditions of approval.

Ceredigion County Council sold Bodlondeb care home in Penparcau to Wales and West Housing in December 2023.

The 50-bed care home was closed by the county council in 2018 and was put on the market with priority being given to buyers who intended to use the site for social care.

Five years after it was put up for sale, Ceredigion County Council confirmed that the board of Wales and West Housing had completed a sale agreement on the property, but did not say how much the building was sold for.

Aberystwyth Town Council objected to the housing scheme for the site saying it “opposed the proposed demolition of the old school, noting its importance to heritage as the oldest building in Penparcau.”

The council said it had concerns over “increased traffic” and “disagreed with the information provided and would like a full and detailed traffic impact assessment to be provided.”

An original scheme for the site would have seen 22 homes built, but concerns over access forced a layout change