Levelling-up funding: Artist's impressions of development in Pontypool

An extension, stretching out to the Italian Gardens in Pontypool Park, suspended on steel structures intended to resemble tree trunks and branches cradling its floor to ceiling glass walls, will be added to the Hanbury Road public toilets.

The view of how the Hanbury Road toilets and extension would look from the Italian Gardens, Pontypool Park. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

The toilet block will also be demolished and rebuilt to mirror its existing appearance with a new front entrance on Hanbury Road offering a view through to the suspended restaurant floor that will seat between 50 and 60 diners.

The UK Government awarded Torfaen Borough Council £7.6 million from its Levelling Up fund in January towards the Pontypool Cultural Hub Project that also includes the conversion of the nearby Grade II listed St James’ Church into a pop-up cinema, pop-up food and exhibition spaces and enhancements to the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park.

A view of how the restaurant extension of the Hanbury Road toilets would look from the Italian Gardens in Pontypool Park. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

Pictures showing how stainless steel brown mesh panels will replace the existing brown, brick cladding on the car park have also been published. 

The intention of revamping the “tired and jaded” car park, according to planning documents submitted on behalf of the authority to its planning department, is to boost natural light and tackle anti-social behaviour which it’s believed deters people from using it, especially at night.

This is how the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park could look with a new steel mesh frame. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

The Cultural Hub project, which is being supported by a further £1.7 million of council and private funds, is intended to breath new life into the centre of Pontypool by creating a nighttime economy and it is anticipated projects will be completed by March 2025. 

By turning the Hanbury Road toilets into a restaurant it’s hoped it will help attract some of the 290,000 people who visit Pontypool Park every year into the town centre as well as creating a nighttime attraction.

This is how the Hanbury Road toilet block could look when it is rebuilt as a restaurant. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

The toilets are a two-storey building – although it appears to be just on the one level from Hanbury Road – that stretches down to the Italian Gardens that were created in around 1850 after Pontypool Park’s then-owner, John Hanbury, visited Italy and brought back plants. 

An outdoor dining area will also be created, underneath the extension, with a food serving hatch to bring the part of the building in the park into public use.

How a serving hatch for the the outdoor covered terraced eating area, fronting the Italian Gardens, could look. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council

The toilet block, which isn’t listed but on Hanbury Road is set next to the Grade II-listed War Memorial Gates, dates from between 1949 and 1971 and a separate public toilets will also provided in the building while new public toilets will be added to the Glantorvaen car park. 

The car park will also have disabled parking spaces for the first time and electric vehicle charging spaces while on the third floor roof level parking will be under new canopies used as the base for solar panels.

A view of how the car park could look from Glantorvaen Road. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

The number of parking spaces on the third level, which is leased to the Tesco supermarket, will remain unchanged. 

London-based real estate consultants GL Hearn is handling the planning applications on behalf of Torfaen council.

Canopies with solar panels proposed for the upper level of the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council.

It has described the plans for the toilet block as “iconic, yet respectful” and said: “The proposal also maintains high quality public toilet provision for the town centre and this is something that the private sector alone would be reluctant to provide.” 

On the car park it says the intention is to make it more attractive and said: “The proposals will help ‘design out crime’ through several measures including a new cascading stair which will remove blind corners and opportunities for anti-social behaviour. The stairway will be glazed providing daylight and will be lit at night. Visitors using the stairs will have clear views in all directions and users will feel safe when moving throughout.”

An image showing how the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park will be made lighter and have a new staircase. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

Internal areas will also be painted in light colours to improve lighting and the proposed cascade staircase is intended as a “user-friendly pedestrian route from the top deck to road level” with the current pedestrian access from the Tesco car park level to Glantorvaen Road described as “steep and feeling unsafe.”. 

The plans are currently being considered by Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department and proposals for the renovation of the listed St James’ Church are yet to be published on the planning website.

An image showing how the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park could look at night. Picture: Percy Thomas Architects/Torfaen County Borough Council planning file

In February Torfaen’s cabinet approved spending £150,000 on the planning applications, even though it hadn’t at that point signed an agreement with the government on the Levelling Up funding. 

But it said tight timescales, with the funding having to be spent by March 2025, meant it would approve the spending which will be recouped once the funding is approved.