Council to appoint project managers to oversee derelict church restoration

Twm Owen – Local democracy reporter

A council is to appoint project managers to oversee the restoration of a privately owned derelict church.

St James Church in Pontypool is due to be refurbished and brought back into use as a cafe and eatery and cultural hub including a cinema, food market, arts fair and function rooms.

It is opposite the Hanbury Road public toilets which Torfaen Borough Council is converting to a restaurant with both schemes, and the revamp of the nearby Glantorvaen multi-storey carpark, funded using £7.6 million awarded by the UK Government in 2023 under its Levelling Up programme.

A report setting out details of how renovation work at the church, including measures to control noise and parking, will be carried out was supplied to the council’s planning department earlier in August.

Torfaen council’s finance director Andrew Lovegrove has approved a decision to award a contract for project management services to oversee the church restoration. The contract award is exempt from the council’s usual tendering and procurement rules.

The value of the contract, who it is being awarded to, and the details of why the council is awarding it outside of its usual rules, hasn’t been made public with the decision report restricted as it relates to the financial affairs of a particular person, which could include the council.

Though the church is privately owned, and its restoration part privately financed alongside funding under the Levelling Up programme, the council has awarded the project management contract as it is the administrator of the grant funding and responsible for ensuring it is managed and monitored in accordance with the memorandum of understanding with the UK Government.

The council also has a legal agreement in place with the grant recipient.

The council-led parts of the project have been beset by rising costs which have forced a number of redesigns with scaled back plans for the toilet conversion and car park were granted planning permission for the fourth time in April this year.

The overall project was originally expected to cost £9.3m, when approved in 2023, while in November last year, the council agreed to use a further £1.5m in UK Government grant funding towards the scheme. The council has said none of its own funding has been allocated to the project since 2023.

Backbench and opposition councillors, who aren’t part of the ruling Labour cabinet, were given five days notification of the council’s intention to take the decision and under its rules decision can be “called in” for review if two councillors object within two days of the decision being taken on Wednesday, August 26.

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