Go-ahead for football ground plan

The club's ground at Farrar Road will be developed

Plans to redevelop Bangor City Football Club's ground have been approved by Gwynedd planning committee.

Morbaine Ltd want to demolish and turn the Farrar Road ground into shops, a bowling alley, student accommodation and residential flats.

The club will be relocated two miles away to a new home on the banks of the Menai Strait.

Bangor Traders Association said anything which attracted people into the city was to be welcomed.

The redevelopment of the old Farrar Road ground, not far from the city centre, has been going on for a number of years, with many delays.

Work to construct the new ground on the banks of the Menai Strait has also attracted attention from residents who were unhappy a football stadium was being built in the area.

Ground works there have now been completed and the new stadium should be ready in less than 12 months.

Fewer people are coming into the city and those who do come are spending less Peter Grant, chairman of Bangor Traders Association

Cheshire-based Morbaine intends to demolish the existing structures as well as the Freemasons Lodge in order to build a few shops, a bowling alley, 327 student flats and 25 other flats for the general public.

Bangor mayor and Gwynedd councillor John Wyn Jones said he was pleased the lengthy planning process had reached a climax and welcomed the leisure facilities and shops.

He accepted there was some concern regarding the provision of more student flats in the city centre but said he had been assured by Bangor University that many more were needed to cope with the vast increase in student numbers.

Before planning permission was granted, Peter Grant, chairman of Bangor Traders Association, said any development which would attract more people to the city was a good thing.

"There are 31 empty properties on the High Street at the moment," he said.

'External economics'

"Fewer people are coming into the city and those who do come are spending less," he added.

Mr Grant, who has been in business in the city for 13 years, said he would close his shop next January if things did not improve.

"A lot of it is due to external economics but out-of-town developments have also had a effect, there have been big changes in the city," he said.

With Theatr Gwynedd closing before the end of the year, and the cinema already closed and replaced with student accommodation, there was less to attract people in, he added.

"Everybody is being hit, this June was my worst month ever, even compared to the usual January and February trade. I've had some days when I've taken nothing at all," he added.