300 jobs hope in medical campus on North Wales business park

Jul 14 2011 by Tom Bodden, North Wales Weekly News

PLANNERS were yesterday expected to give the go ahead to a new medical campus on a business park which will create up to 300 jobs.

Developers want to build a dementia care unit, brain injury and surgical units, plus a children’s day nursery at the business park in Abergele.

Conwy county planners were recommended by officials to approve the proposals yesterday afternoon.

Oldham-based Marantomark Ltd says the development will create 173 full-time and 112 part-time jobs, including 20 staff at the 100-place day nursery.

The site is near the Gwrych Medical Centre on the North Wales Business Park off the A547, and owned by North West Technology Park Ltd.

An 80-bed dementia care unit, 30-bed acquired brain injury unit and 30-bed surgical unit are included in the plans.

Officers recommended conditional planning consent, subject to satisfactory information on the plan’s impact on the setting of nearby Gwrych Castle and improved pedestrian links within the site.

Steve West, managing director of North Wales Business Park, said: “This scheme gives us a huge increase in the scope of our medical activity, including the Gwrych medical centre and consulting rooms for Spire health centre, with the Red Cross North Wales headquarters already on site.

“We have addressed issues of sensitivity of the site and we are pretty confident we will get approval.

“There is potential for a variety of jobs from full time to part time, flexible working in a whole range of disciplines while the construction phase will also be beneficial to North Wales.”

Conwy Council’s business and enterprise section considered that the 229 full-time equivalent jobs would not be as many as perhaps was originally expected on the five acres.

But it recognised it was “a reasonable ratio of job creation”.

Full report next week.