Coleg Cambria: Plans for £20m Yale campus upgrade in Wrexham approved

Plans for a £20m revamp of a college campus have been approved.

Coleg Cambria's Wrexham campus will replace the Yale site's existing catering, performing arts, sports and examination buildings with a three-storey complex.

The new premises will also include a 200-seat conference hall, meeting and staff rooms, study spaces, sports facilities and IT suites.

The college said it would "provide improved facilities" for students.

Coleg Cambria has previously revealed plans for a £10m engineering technology complex and redevelopment of its Bersham Road campus in Wrexham, and a £3.5m business school in Northop, Flintshire.

More than £10m has been generated to pay for the Yale proposals and the college is hoping to secure match funding from the Welsh Government.

The planning application approved by council officers claimed the current buildings were "inadequate" for teaching requirements, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A planning statement said: "The proposed development will offer enhanced teaching and training facilities, larger examination, sports and dining facilities.

"In the short term the proposals will provide improved facilities for Coleg Cambria.

"This will enable a standard of education to be achieved, increasing student access to education and ultimately employment."

The college has previously said it hoped to start work next year with a view to opening the new building in time for the start of the 2020/21 academic year.