Money that was due to be spent to create a wellbeing hub at Plascrug Leisure Centre in Aberystwyth has been diverted to Lampeter.

Senior councillors in Ceredigion said today at a Cabinet meeting that Plascrug could remain a field hospital for the next 18 months and decided to divert grant money initially planned for the Aberystwyth centre to Lampeter Leisure Centre.

A proposal to create wellbeing hubs or centres offering physical activity and leisure opportunities as well as places to meet, consult and treat people in the north, mid and south of the county was presented following a review of council leisure facilities in 2018.

It had been planned that Plascrug would be the first developed, with a Welsh Government grant of £708,000, but its use as an emergency field hospital during the pandemic, and potentially for the next 12 to 18 months, has stalled progress, Cabinet heard.

Cabinet member for Porth Ceredigion, Cllr Catherine Hughes said that the Welsh Government had said the grant could be used for another site and following review it had been decided that Lampeter would be the most suitable.

This would be the mid Ceredigion centre, with Aberaeron and Tregaron also considered.

Population mix and requirements were part of the consideration and “from the needs analysis, Lampeter provides the best opportunity to maximise the impact of a wellbeing centre for the population at large,” added Cllr Hughes.

Local member Cllr Hag Harries welcomed the project, adding “this is excellent for us in Lampeter”.

Cllr Keith Evans, of Llandysul, questioned the “centralisation” of services and said the council should be looking at helping communities who have developed their own provision, such as in Llandysul and Tregaron, where local authority leisure services had been closed.

He raised concerns about “depopulating” some towns if services were too focused in one area and was told the plan was to also have outreach provision.