Land To The Rear/side Pontypool Ambulance Station George Street Wainfelin Pontypool Torfaen NP4 6BX

1. 1.The proposal, by virtue of its siting, layout, outside storage and vehicle storage/parking would result in incongruous and visually unacceptable development which would seriously harm the character and appearance of the site and wider area, which is contrary to policies S2, S4, S7 and BW1 of the Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (December 2013).
2. 2.The proposal would introduce a commercial use to a largely residential area and the noise, disturbance and dust from activity in the yard and vehicle movements would have a harmful impact on neighbouring residents due to their close proximity. The loss of the means of enclosure to the front of residential properties on the access road would also detrimentally impinge on the neighbour's amenity. As such, there would be a significant loss of residential amenity contrary to policy BW1 of the Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (December 2013).
3. 3.The site was cleared without consideration of the step-wise approach in Planning Policy Wales 12 and the Biodiversity, Ecosystem Resilience and Development Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). A Green Infrastructure Statement has not been submitted, in accordance with the Green Infrastructure SPG, to explain the works undertaken and how they would be compensated. The absence of this information also makes it difficult to consider whether there would be a net gain for biodiversity in accordance with national planning policy and the Council's statutory duty under The Environment (Wales) Act 2016. Information regarding lighting has also not been provided, which could impact protected species. It is therefore considered that there is an unacceptable impact on the natural environment, which is contrary to policies S2, S3, S7 and BW1 of the Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (December 2013).
4. 4.The development intensifies the use of the land and would be accessed via a road that is not wide enough to cater for two-way traffic with large vehicles. It also has substandard visibility on the junction with George Street. The application seeks to widen the road by removing the means of enclosure to the front of residential properties that separate the access and front facades but this would impinge on the neighbours and cause a safety hazard. This harm to highway safety would be contrary to policy BW1 of the Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (December 2013).
5. 5.There is an absence of information to demonstrate there would be suitable drainage to avoid harmful contamination and surface water runoff as required by policies S3 and BW1 of the Torfaen County Borough Council Local Development Plan (December 2013).

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

NP4 6BX

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Pontypool Community Council

Date validated

6 November 2025

Consultation expiry

19 December 2025

Consultation start

20 November 2025

Consultation end

11 December 2025

Neighbour consultation start

20 November 2025

Neighbour consultation end

11 December 2025

Last date for comments

19 December 2025

Target decision date

18 December 2025

Applicant

Private applicant

Agent

K W Dorrington Architectural

Architect profile

K W DORRINGTON ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATES LTD

Agent address

116 Aberthaw Circle Newport S. Wales NP19 9QJ

Case officer

Mia McAndrew

Statutory period

42 days

Site notice start

28 November 2025

Site notice end

19 December 2025

Documents

16