More houses added to University project

MORE houses have been added to a university campus redevelopment project in Swansea, taking the total number of units to 160.

Pobl Group has added four houses and one flat to its £20m masterplan for the former University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) Townhill campus.

If given planning consent by Swansea Council, the Edwardian College building will be renovated and extended to create a 62-flat complex.

The flats would be surrounded by 98 houses on three sides, plus one shop, with the development taking up 7.5 acres of the 12-acre site.

An updated design statement said the changes were to ensure “the economic development of the site”.

The southern section of the campus slopes downhill and is covered with trees, and the revamped scheme will not mean fewer trees being retained.

Future occupants would access the development via Townhill Road and Pantycelyn Road.

UWTSD’s staff and students relocated from Townhill to their new campus in SA1 for the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

The planned flats and houses would be a mixture of affordable rent, purchase through shared ownership and the UK Government’s Right to Buy scheme, and open market sale.

Speaking last November, Pobl’s head of development Elfed Roberts said the scheme would make the most of the views over Swansea Bay.
He said: “We also want to conserve and maintain a large proportion of mature parkland and open space to benefit both the new residents and adjacent community.”

Pobl’s application for the Edwardian College building and surrounding houses will be considered by Swansea Council’s planning committee in due course.