Toilet block revamp returns for fourth attempt at approval in £7.6m scheme

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter 

A £7.6 million town centre regeneration scheme is set to return for approval after years of delays and multiple revisions.

Included in the scheme is a toilet block conversion to a restaurant which could be approved for a fourth time at a Torfaen Borough Council planning committee meeting on April 8. 

The planning committee will also be recommended to give the go-ahead for revised plans to revamp a nearby multi-storey car park. 

The UK Government awarded £7.6 million for the plan in January 2023 which also included the private led conversion of a derelict church, opposite the toilet block, to an events venue. 

Dubbed the Pontypool Cultural Hub and Cafe Quarter project, affordability issues have the new restaurant and car park, which both belong to Torfaen Borough Council, with a number of plans previously approved by its planning committee having to be scrapped. 

In November last year the authority’s Labour cabinet agreed to use a further £1.5m from a different UK Government grant fund to plug a shortfall in the budget for the project, which was originally estimated to have an overall cost of £9.3m and approved under the Levelling Up programme. 

The council’s planning committee is recommended to approve two applications, submitted by the council’s economy directorate, when its meets at the Civic Centre, opposite the Hanbury Road toilet block and next to the Glantorvaen Road multistorey car park. 

Permission is sought for the “substantial demolition” of the 1950s built Hanbury Road toilets, the retention and modification of its front facade and for the new use as a cafe and restaurant. 

The doorway for the existing male toilet entrance would be retained and altered to provide access to a switch room while the existing female doorway would be blocked up with a menu display. The café/restaurant entrance would be provided between the existing entrances. Part of the connecting wall on Hanbury Road would be removed to allow access to two new public toilets. 

The plans also include a kiosk on the lower level in the Italian Gardens in Pontypool Park, while a temporary construction access will be provided in the Italian Gardens, which would involve alterations to the garden including the removal of the pond. The gardens would be restored following the completion of the development and a replacement pond would be built, which will be secured by a condition. 

The Welsh Government will have to make a final decision on the toilet block as the application to demolish a building in a conservation area has been made by the council but listed building consent is no longer required as the part of the building connected to the listed War Memorial structure is isn’t being altered under these proposals. 

The planning committee first approved plans for the toilets in June 2023 but those couldn’t be implemented due to “structural reasons” which led to the council putting forward revised plans that were approved in December 2023. 

However those plans had to be altered on cost grounds with amendments to the December 2023 approval granted by the planning committee in May 2024. 

The committee has previously approved plans for the Glantorvaen car park in April 2023 and May 2024 but those couldn’t be implemented on cost grounds. 

Under the latest plans the total number of car parking spaces would reduce from 264 to 246 to provide 11 disabled parking bays and four electric vehicle charging bays. 

The north and east elevations, which front the street, would be cleaned and painted and new vertical fins would be fitted. The aluminium fin cladding would have a champagne gold finish. The existing slate tile cladding would be retained and repaired. 

The pitched roof on the stairwell would be removed and replaced with a flat roof to provide solar panels. The existing stairwell openings on the east elevation would be enlarged with new railings installed and a vertical sign, with a grey aluminium background with projecting metallic letters stating ‘Glantorvaen Car Park’ installed. 

The committee meets at 10am.