Ceredigion County Council chiefs say they are unsure about the future of a prime Aberystwyth seafront building after it emerged that a lack of grant funding had led to the collapse of development plans.

West Midlands company Hawkstone bought Swyddfa’r Sir, which once housed council offices and Aberystwyth’s magistrates court, in 2015 and revealed £5m plans to convert the building into a hotel, spa and apartments.

However, after grant funding failed to materialise for the project, Hawkstone lodged fresh plans that would have seen the whole building converted into flats and apartments, only to withdraw those plans in December.

Ceredigion council said the authority was unaware of future plans for Swyddfa’r Sir after the proposal for the hotel and spa were abandoned.

But it added that the council, through a regional development group, had supported grant applications which were not successful.

A spokesperson said: “The council has discussed grant funding options with the owners in the past but none have been successful to date.

“The Swyddfa’r Sir building is under private ownership and we are unable to comment on their conversion plans.

“The developers have in the past applied for European Regional Development Fund funding from Welsh Government’s Building for the Future grant scheme, and for Welsh Government Town Centre Loan monies to help with conversion plans.

“The Building for the Future ERDF grant scheme was to be administered directly between Welsh Government and the developer.

“The Growing Mid Wales Partnership, who were in favour of the spa and hotel concept, gave strong in principle support to the application but Welsh Government deemed the costs to be ineligible for ERDF support, so did not proceed with an award."

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