PROPOSALS for a new health campus in Newtown are to be re-submitted to the Welsh Government.

Powys Council is working with Powys Teaching Health Board on the North Powys Wellbeing Programme, which will see a new campus bringing together health, social care, education, voluntary organisations and housing on a single site.

The Park area of Newtown has been earmarked for the campus, and Carly Skeets from the health board told the council's health and care scrutiny committee that a new phase of planning is to begin alongside the Welsh Government shortly.

She said: “We submitted our Programme Business Case and we have received some positive feedback from Welsh Government colleagues.

“We’re just about to resubmit it in the next week and we hope to have some fairly quick feedback from the Welsh Government.

“We’re moving into a more positive place now. We’ve been commissioning some external companies to help with the demand, capacity and financial modelling.

“Making sure what we propose to progress as affordable and sustainable is really important, that work needs to be robust.”

Cllr Mike Williams who represents Machynlleth, asked for assurances that there would be a “fair distribution of resources” for the periphery areas of North Powys.

Portfolio holder for Adult Social Care, Cllr Myfanwy Alexander, said: “You will notice we tend to avoid calling it Newtown and there is a reason for that.

“It’s not a project for just for Newtown but to trial and develop ways of working across the whole county.

“It’s very important we recognise what you say, I’m conscious especially after Covid, the local resources of our communities are more important than ever before.

“This is a devolutionary project about bringing health and care closer to people, it’s a philosophy of localism.”

She added that you “have to have the centre somewhere”.

Cllr Williams added: “I wasn’t questioning the location at all, it’s about people from the periphery not missing out on this superb project.”

Former adult services portfolio holder, Cllr Stephen Hayes, had been in the cabinet when the project first appeared, he said: “This is a huge programme and I’m tremendously supportive of it.

“It’s about doing services differently not buildings.”

In May 2019, the Welsh Government announced that £2.5 million of funding has been made available to start the project.

And depending on the size of ambition, the campus which is expected to be completed in 2026 could cost in the region of £60 million to £85 million.