Romantic park sculpture relocated during £10.5m redevelopment

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

A new spot for a sculpture of two lovers locked in an embrace has been approved.

The pair had originally been perched on a wall behind a public toilet block in the Italian Gardens in Pontypool Park.

A new temporary location for the sculpture was required due to a £10.5m scheme which includes the partial demolition of the Hanbury Road toilet block, in Pontypool, and its conversion to a restaurant and cafe.

Proposals to place the sculpture, crafted by Newport-based artis Chris Wood in 2017, in storage were approved by Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department in 2024.

In September this year agents handling the planning application for the toilet block conversion on the council’s behalf, confirmed the wooden sculpture has been temporarily relocated to a spot between the pond and ski slope in Pontypool Park.

The planning department has confirmed the relocation satisfies a planning condition attached to the permission for the conversion of the toilet block and to protect the artwork before it can return to the Italian Gardens.

It is inspired by Capel Hanbury Leigh, whose family owned Pontypool Park, and his second wife Emma Elizabeth. They created the Italian Gardens with plants they’d brought back from Italy after honeymooning at the Isola Bella Gardens in Lake Maggiore following their marriage in 1847.

Plans for the toilet block conversion were first approved in 2023 but the council has had to redesign its proposals on three occasions on cost grounds with the most recent plans approved in April.

Temporarily moved 

In a report Torfaen council planning officer Mia McAndrew confirmed the condition could be “discharged” as it had been complied with and stated: “The sculpture has temporarily moved from the Italian Gardens to a concrete base in Pontypool Park between the ponds and ski slopes.

“The sculpture will return to its original location following completion of construction works. The submitted details are acceptable and condition four can therefore be discharged.”

Two other conditions, relating to protection and replacement of trees in the Italian Gardens, and a survey report, with photographs showing the current facade of the toilet block on Hanbury Road, and the listed War Memorial Gates adjacent to it, have also been met.

The survey, intended as a record of the history of the toilet block, and photographs had to be submitted to Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

The report includes photographs of the urinals branded ‘Radio’ and manufactured by Adamsez Ltd of Scotswood-on-Tyne, an established manufacturer of sanitary wares.

The report details how the Italian Gardens where gifted to the town in 1924, when the memorial gates were unveiled, and also states though it is thought the toilet block was built in the 1950s there is evidence, including the urinals, that they may date back to the 1930s.

Heritage fruit trees

Six heritage fruit trees will be planted at an existing orchard in Pontypool Park to compensate for the removal of two trees from the Italian Gardens.

The six will be a range chosen from a list of Welsh heritage trees with the options being: Denbigh Plum, Monmouth Beauty Apples, Morgan Sweet Apple, Cariad Cherry, Berllanderi Green Pear and Machen Apple Caerphilly. They would be the largest planting size available.

Other details on protecting trees within the Italian Gardens and controlling light during construction, including that no lighting is used between midnight and 5am, have also been approved.

A condition on lighting for the revamp of the Glantorvaen multistorey car park, which forms part of the same development, has also been approved.

The council confirmed no additional external lighting at the car park is proposed, with only existing lighting replaced, meaning additional impacts on nocturnal wildlife is unlikely, which has satisfied the council’s ecologist.