Newport council rejects flats plans for city Drill Hall

Developers wanted to build a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes inside the former Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street.

The property was badly damaged in 2016 and 2018 by two fires, and has stood empty ever since.

The applicant had proposed "a complete re-build of upper sections of the building", which stands near the junction with Emlyn Street and Kingsway.

While the interior would undergo a radical transformation, the applicant said "the existing building facades and roofs are all to be fully reinstated to be as they were, using a natural slate roof with painted cast metal gutters and downpipes, and pennant coursed rubble stone with brick surrounds and features".

That bid to breathe new life into the 160-year-old building has now failed at the planning stage, after council officers raised conservation and privacy concerns.

The fire damaged Abundant Life Centre in Lower Dock Street, Newport, after the 2016 fire.

Planning documents show the proposal for a dozen homes was rejected on five grounds, including an "unacceptable loss of privacy to future and existing residential occupiers" because the windows of each flat would have been too close together.

Council planners also cited the inclusion of rooflights on the building's main roof, which they judged would "detract from and would be harmful to the special interests of the listed building and the character and appearance of the Lower Dock Street Conservation Area".

There was also concern the Dock Street proposal had failed to include affordable housing, education or leisure services.

The planners said this made the application "an unsustainable form of development".

Flood risk was also a factor. Planners said the bid "fails to demonstrate through an adequate Flood Consequences Assessment that the risks and consequences can be acceptably managed over the lifetime of development".

Finally, the council officers also noted a lack of "appropriate" survey work to test the development's "likely impacts" on bats, which are a European Protected Species.

The council also received three responses from neighbours, who raised concerns about construction noise if the building work were to go ahead.

Neighbours also said there was "very little on-street parking available" in the area and - considering another development was nearing completion nearby - "these additional 12 flats will make parking unsustainable for residents".