Posted on: Wednesday 2 April 2025
Plans for a new Pontypool Cultural Hub and Cafe Quarter have taken a step forward.
Cabinet members have approved a report recommending the contract is awarded to enable work to begin to transform the Hanbury Road toilets into a café/restaurant overlooking the park and improvements to Glantorvaen Road Car Park.
The work is part of the wider £9.3m project which also includes the private redevelopment of St James' Church into a restaurant and cultural hub.
In August 2022, it was announced the project had been successful in receiving £7.6m from the UK Government's Levelling Up fund - one of only 11 projects in Wales to do so.
Last month, the UK Government approved an extension to Torfaen Council’s Levelling Up programme to March 2028.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Cllr Joanne Gauden, Executive Member for Economy, Skills and Regeneration, said: "The suite of projects will create a cultural hub at the gateway to Pontypool town, aiming to create local job opportunities, grow the local economy and act as a catalyst for further investment into the heart of town.
"I'd like to thank Nick Thomas-Symonds MP for his support to ensure that our project was included in the scheme for urgent consideration by the UK Government. The approval of a programme extension gave us the opportunity today to consider awarding the contract before the current tender expires which avoids another lengthy re-tendering process."
Construction work could start on the on the parkside café and car park later this year, once the final design phase cost estimates have been agreed with the contractor.
The work will include a glazed rear extension café/restaurant overlooking the park and improvements to the car park to reduce anti-social behaviour and provide safe and secure parking.
The plans also include two new accessible public toilets on Hanbury Road, new disabled and EV charging parking spaces and accessible toilets in the car park.
Plans to transform the Grade II listed St James' Church into a cultural hub remain unchanged, and work is already underway to improve security measures at the former church site.
Find out more about what the Pontypool Cultural Hub will have to offer