Unauthorised changes approved at ‘landmark’ listed industrial building
Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter
Changes, including adaptations made without planning permission, to a “landmark” listed industrial building have been approved
Owners Johnsey Estates has been given permission to keep two steel two extract flues that were installed to the eastern side of the former British Nylon Spinners factory at Mamhilad Park Estate on the edge of Pontypool in 2019.
Permission has also been granted for three new flues on a southern side of the grade II star-listed building described a landmark of industrial culture and architecture in post-war Wales.
The three new flues would serve a vehicle paint and modification workshop that has several existing flues along the same elevation. They are all extracted to an inner courtyard, which is the only point they are fully visible from, and aren’t attached to the tallets part of the former factory. The two existing flues to be retained also serve paint booths.
Torfaen Borough Council’s heritage officer Ross Cannon, who is authorised by Welsh heritage body Cadw to determine listed building consent applications, said the changes amounted to a “relatively minor level of harm” which could be justified by “the need to secure the ongoing viable and sustainable use of the building”.
All of the flues are galvanised steel with a 0.8 metre diameter and extend three metres above the flat roofs in the inner courtyard and are described as small in scale.
A condition will require the glass panes and glazing bars removed for the installation of the new flues are stored for future use as the changes were described by the applicant as “reversable”.
A proposal to create a new 900 home village at the factory site is awaiting a decision. The plan was approved in 2023 before a legal dispute resulted in the planning permission being quashed, with the agreement of the council and developers, in 2024.
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