A HERITAGE body has made a last ditch bid to save a town's hospital from demolition.

The Wales & West Housing Association plans to demolish the former Builth Wells Cottage Hospital to make way for 17 affordable homes.

But Malcolm Morrison, the chair of the Builth Wells and District Heritage Society, has written to Powys County Council's planning department to say the original 118-year-old building should be saved as it was funded entirely by local subscription and donation until the formation of the National Health Service in 1948.

"We and most of the local population are extremely concerned by the plan submitted by Wales and West Housing that includes the entire demolition of the site," said Mr Morrison who added a scheme that preserves the original 1896 building would be supported.

The heritage body had earlier appealed to Wales & West, which bought the site in the autumn, to retain the historic building, which Welsh Government heritage body Cadw said doesn't meet the criteria for listed status.

Wales & West said more than 100 people attended an open event it held at the town's Strand Hall on Tuesday, January 7 to explain its proposals. It is hoping the scheme will win planning approval in the spring.

Its head of development, Nikki Cole, said retaining the original building would have been too expensive for the social landlord.

She said: "We undertook a feasibility study into retaining the original structure and adapting it for affordable housing. Unfortunately, the existing structure is far from readily adaptable for residential use and due to the standards required for affordable housing in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability, this option is simply not cost effective for us.

"However we are committed to preserving the history of this building as much as possible, and will work closely with the local community and local experts in order to do this. One example of how we plan to do this is that we will relocate the two existing time capsules within the site, and create a further one to reflect this stage in the site's history.

"We will also seek to ensure that as many appropriately qualified local suppliers and tradespeople have the opportunity to work with us on this development."

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