Plans to revamp Grade II* listed council building could pave the way for traditional meetings

Elgan Hearn – Local democracy reporter

Plans to revamp a Grade II* listed council headquarters could eventually allow face-to-face meetings to take place for the first time in over five years.

Simon Jennings of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has lodged a listed building planning application with county borough planners for proposed works at the General Office in Ebbw Vale.

Known as the GO, the building has been the headquarters of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council following the exodus of staff from the Civic Centre in Ebbw Vale at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Future

Since then, the Civic Centre building has been flattened and it is expected that housing will be built at the site in the future.

The proposed changes to the Grade II listed building would be in two steps.

The first would see the: “removal of the existing reception area and relocation in alternative space.

“Works to include reinstatement of finishes within existing space and introduction of new services / access control / reception desk / lighting / access control gate / floor finishes in a newly formed area.”

The second step would see “Enhancements within the first floor Abraham Derby room and the ground floor Jack Williams VC Hall.

“Works consist of new acoustic rafts suspended from existing trusses and acoustic panels fixed to various walls.”

Design

This second set of proposals could see full council meetings which could allow all councillors and accompanying staff to be in either the hall or room.

The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) that accompanied the proposal said: “The building that is the location of the of the proposed development was constructed between 1915-1916.

“The building was commissioned by Ebbw Vale Iron & Steel Company who employed Fred J Veall of Veall & Sant Architects Cardiff to design the new building, it was to be the main offices of the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company.

“Initially planned to be even larger, the works were halted by the First World War. ”
The document explains that a modern extension, now “home” to the Gwent Archives, was added to the north-eastern corner in 2010 and the building was given its listed status in 1999.

The HIA said: “The General Office draws its historical significance from its links with the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company.

“The relationship between Ebbw Vale and industrial metal production dates to the 1780s.

“The rapid rise in the production of iron at the works lead to the population of the valley reaching 9,000 by 1841.

“After the adoption of the Bessemer process in the middle of the 19th century saw the site become the location of the first steel works in Britain.

“Following on from the demolishing and levelling of the rest of the Works, the General Offices remain almost the only surviving structure associated with iron and steel production in Ebbw Vale.

“The only other is the Furnace Bank located less than 300 metres to the north of the offices.

“The Furnace Bank is largely overgrown, and hidden behind some new houses, so the General Offices is the most prominent of the two.”

Remote

In 2021, a new law was brought in by the Welsh Government which require local authorities to ensure their meetings are capable of being held remotely.

It cemented emergency legislation that was brought in during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 which allowed meetings that had ground to a halt to take place online.

While all other local authorities in Wales have moved to hybrid meetings, Blaenau Gwent have been mostly holding all council meetings online.

There have been continued calls from some councillors to have the facilities once again to allow face-to-face meetings.

A decision on the application is expected by November 12.