THE DESIGN of a new “unimaginative” apartment block to replace “Colditz on the hill” above Aberystwyth harbour has come under fire from local residents.

The five-storey development at Plas Morolwg involves a mix of more than 50 Wales and West Housing Association flats offering specialist extra care and eight private apartments.

The previous association building was long condemned as an eyesore and was demolished in 2014.

The replacement building revealed this week has also been blasted as “incongruous” and a lost opportunity by local residents.

One of them, John Evans, said: “We suspect that few residents of Aber shed a tear when the building, which the new build will replace, was demolished. That building was something of an iconic eyesore, Aber’s version of Colditz on the hill.

“Aberystwyth, and Ceredigion Council, now has a wonderful opportunity to make not just an architectural, but a social statement through this build.

“Sadly, the proposed build looks as unimaginative as it is incongruous with the magnificent landscape in which it will be located and other architecture in the vicinity.”

Read the full story in today’s Aberystwyth edition of the Cambrian News