The case for the North Powys Wellbeing programme will be discussed

Following this meeting the council and health board could find out what level of support their visionary project can expect from Cardiff Bay.

At their Cabinet meeting on October 20, councillors approved the business case for the programme which will now be submitted to the Welsh Government.

The Park area of Newtown, has been earmarked for the campus – which will bring health, social care, education, voluntary sector and housing together in one place.

Director of Social Services, Alison Bulman, said that she and her counterpart from PTHB, Hayley Thomas (Director of Planning and Performance) would be meeting with the Welsh Government in early November.

Ms Bulman, said: “We will receive more information around the timelines of getting the decision around the programme business case.

“The time scale around the campus is towards the end of 2025 or early 2026.

“Due to Covid there has been a period this year where activity was suspended as the programme team were redeployed to mission critical activities in both the health board and social care.”

She added that the pandemic could also affect the project’s future if staff were again needed elsewhere.

Ms Bulman, said “From my perspective the model of care and the benefits we can deliver is not reliant on a building.”

Portfolio holder for Adult Social Services, Councillor Myfanwy Alexander hoped that medical consultants from hospitals further afield, could hold surgeries at the campus.

This would save time and travelling for patients.

She said: “We asked local people what difficulties they faced and what mattered to them, from those responses and our own data, we generated the model of care.

“One of the great assets of this project is the way in which partners, the Art Gallery, Library, Open Newtown, are already on board to try and explore what feeling better and living better would mean.

“Although it’s based in Newtown it would reach out and teach lessons we can roll out across the county.”

Council Leader, Councillor Rosemarie Harris, wished Ms Bulman well in her meeting with the Welsh Government.

In May 2019, the Welsh Government announced that £2.5 million of funding has been made available to start the project.

Options being considered include a new-build school, health and care centre, library and specialist housing.

And depending on their size, they could cost anywhere between £64 million and £83 million.