Aberystwyth University's new £40m campus plans submitted

Alongside its research facilities, the campus will have meeting areas and offices

Plans for a £40.5m innovation and enterprise campus at Aberystwyth University have been submitted to Ceredigion council.

The proposed additions to the Gogerddan campus will allow research into food, nutrition and energy security, renewable energies and biotechnologies.

It comes after a public consultation on the proposals.

Aberystwyth University said it would provide "world-leading facilities".

A decision on the new campus - which would be built next to the IBERS institute on its current Gogerddan site - is expected in spring 2017.

The development will be funded by the European Regional Development Fund via the Welsh Government, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Aberystwyth University.

It will include a bio-refining centre, a future food centre, laboratories and a seed-processing and biobank facility.

'Extremely positive'

It is hoped it will help create solutions for the agri-tech industry and will support more than 100 jobs once fully operational.

Project director Huw Watkins said feedback from the public consultation had been "extremely positive".

"It allowed us to progress community benefits such as solutions to address highway concerns. We will be working closely with Ceredigion County Council during the next few months to facilitate a series of improvements that work for all stakeholders," he added.

If planning permission is granted, construction is planned to start in mid-2017 and is expected to take two years to complete.