THE former Drill Hall in Newport's Lower Dock Street could be turned into flats as part of new plans submitted to the city council.

Two separate fires caused extensive damage to the distinctive building in 2016 and 2018, and it has stood unused ever since, surrounded by safety fencing.

A new planning application, if successful, would breathe new life into the property, which stands near the junction with Emlyn Street and Kingsway.

It would involve a dozen flats being constructed during "a complete re-build of upper sections of the building", planning documents submitted to Newport City Council show.

The flats would be a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes, and "where residents would likely be non-family singles or couples, workers in the city, or retired".

South Wales Argus: Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018.Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018. (Image: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk)

The applicant notes there is "a wide range of public transport services, bus and rail" nearby, and although the plans do not include an off-street parking allocation, there are some on-street parking spaces available in Lower Dock Street, as well as several public car parks in the city centre area.

While the interior would undergo a radical transformation, planning documents show under the flats plan "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".

South Wales Argus: Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018.Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018. (Image: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk)

A Grade-II listed building, the Drill Hall was built in the 1860s and for decades served as the headquarters of the 3rd Monmouthshire Rifle Volunteer Corps.

In later years the building's use changed and it became a community centre, and was most recently known as the Abundant Life Centre, until a series of fires there led to its closure.

South Wales Argus: Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018.Firefighters at the Drill Hall in Lower Dock Street, Newport, in 2018. (Image: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk)

The building was reduced to a shell after being engulfed by flames in March 2018 when renovation work was being carried out. It had been partially destroyed by another fire just a couple of years previously.

The Drill Hall was subsequently bought at auction in September 2020 for £199,500.

The plans, with application number 22/1041, can be viewed online at Newport City Council's website.