PLANS for a cultural hub and new cafe quarter in Pontypool have taken a major step forward.

Preliminary work is due to take place next week ahead of 3-projects within Pontypool Town Centre.  

The scheme will include a new park-side café with public toilet provision through the redevelopment of the Hanbury Road toilets, improved parking facilities at Glantorvaen Road Car Park and a new cultural hub at St James' Church.

South Wales Argus:

Groundwork investigation, which will include drilling, will take place outside the car park from Wednesday, June 21 to Friday, June 23. During this time, the lower Civic Centre car park will be temporarily inaccessible.

Additionally, on Sunday June 25, work will take place at the Hanbury Road public toilets. The facilities will be temporarily closed for the day but alternative toilets will be available at:

Pontypool Park, which are open between 7.30am and 5pm. These facilities do not provide an accessible toilet. Accessible toilets and baby changing facilities can be found in Pontypool Active Living Centre located close by

Pontypool Active Living Centre between 7am and 8.30pm. Male, female, baby changing, and accessible toilets are available.

Building work is expected to begin on the new café and Glantorvaen Road Car Park in January 2024.

Once complete, there will be two new fully-accessible public toilets on Hanbury Road, as well as toilet facilities in the café for customers.  There will also be new toilet facilities at Glantorvaen Road Car Park, as well as new disabled spaces and electric vehicle charging points.

The £9.3 million Pontypool Cultural Hub project was one of only 11 projects in Wales to receive funding from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, which aims to create jobs and grow the local economy. 

South Wales Argus:

The plan is to turn the derelict St James Church into a cafe/eatery and for it to be a multi-use cultural facility with function rooms.

The new uses would include a cinema and events such as a food market and arts fairs while a kitchen would also be added to the building and there would be a single-storey toilet extension. 

The 202-year-old church, which hasn’t been in use since 1998, is currently described as in “a critical condition with large areas of the roof missing or damaged” and the fabric of the building, which is blighted by vandalism and lack of maintenance, is deteriorating. 

Developers Bolwell and Hayward Ltd will repair and conserve its fabric of the building using like-for-like materials. Its stained glass windows will also be repaired.