A £9 MILLION regeneration plan has been delayed due to uncertainty around the scheme intended to breathe new life into the centre of Pontypool.
Torfaen Borough Council which is behind the proposals to convert a toilet block into a restaurant, revamp a nearby car park and restore the derelict St James’ Church hasn’t given up on the scheme but is waiting on a decision from the UK Government to approve an extension already requested.
Westminster had awarded the council £7.6m from the Levelling Up programme, in January 2023, but since the new Labour administration came to power in July it has reviewed spending commitments amid claims many were unfunded by the previous Conservative government.
That has led to uncertainty around the Pontypool Cultural Hub project which has also been hit by rising construction costs forcing the council to redesign plans for the Glantorvaen multi-storey car park and the Hanbury Road toilets to bring them into budget.
The restaurant, including a glass extension from the current toilet block overhanging into the Italian Gardens in Pontypool Park, had to be redesigned due to space constraints.
Fresh questions were raised about the scheme after the council’s cabinet approved spending of up to £528,000 on an upgrade to the sewerage network in the Hanbury Road and Commercial Street area.
A report for the cabinet said work is expected to be completed before “a final decision” is reached on the Levelling Up project.
Previously it had been understood all funding was in place and planning permissions having been granted.
A council spokesman said: “The Levelling up fund projects have progressed through their design stages with tenders received for the car park and the café projects being led by the council, and tenders due to be invited early next year by the owners of St James’s Church.
“Some changes to the designs will be required to accommodate the tenders, and officers are working through the implications of this before Christmas.
“The proposed build programme for the projects is longer than originally anticipated owing to difficult working arrangements in the Italian Gardens, and the significant delays in receiving the project award from UK Government in 2023, and so any extension to the programme will require a UK Government decision.”