Dismay over where students will drink as ex-pub to be turned into flats

Dismay over where a city's students will be able to drink was heard in a council meeting after plans to turn a former pub and shops into flats were approved.

Thirteen apartments will be created at the site of the old Waterloo Inn and the ex-WH Smith and USC shops on Bangor High Street in Gwynedd.

But councillor Gruffydd Williams, questioning whether a report had been done on the pub's viability, asked a meeting "where can all these students go to drink now?"

Councillor Delyth Lloyd Griffiths told the meeting it was "sad" but said Cyngor Gwynedd was doing the "right thing" due to the need for housing in Bangor.

Meanwhile, Dafyd Meurig said he supported the plans as it was an acceptable use of an empty building on the High Street that "offers a place for people to live".

Referring to his fellow councillor who lamented the plans, he added that "young people today tended to drink a little less than my generation and Gruff's generation".

The Waterloo Inn closed in 2020.

The plan will see eight one-bedroom flats, four two-bedroom flats, and one three-bedroom flat created, while retail use will be retained on the ground floor.

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