A SCHEME to convert the grade II listed former library in Aberystwyth into two apartments has been delayed after an application for listed building consent was withdrawn by developers.

The old library in Corporation Street was put up for sale after it was closed in 2012 and the town library moved to the former town hall.

In 2016, the building was sold to developers, who have not been named in documents, despite a community bid to buy the former library and retain it for community use.

Proposals put forward for the library included a specialist substance misuse facility and even a bar, but it was eventually sold on the open market, and plans were agreed by the council’s development control department for a conversion of the building into two three-bedroom apartments.

Planning officers gave the green light to plans for the building in June 2016, with a deadline for work to start before 2021.

The work, which still required listed building consent, has still not begun, and an application to secure listed building consent was withdrawn in October.

The documents do not say why the application was withdrawn, and a second application has yet to be brought forward.

A Ceredigion council spokesperson told the Cambrian News this week that the building had been sold and that “the developers will need to consider whether a new planning application and listed building consent is required before taking forward any proposals”.

The work to convert the building will see the building’s exterior retained as it is, with work taking place internally to provide the two apartments.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now