By Nicholas Thomas
DEVELOPERS will be hoping it’s second time lucky for their plans to turn a “dilapidated” listed building near Newport’s famous TJs nightclub into accommodation.
An original bid to open a HMO (house of multiple occupation) for five people in Clarence Place was turned down in June.
At the time, councillors on the planning committee spoke positively about the application – which also included reopening the ground floor as a food and drink venue – but rejected the plan because the applicant had not ordered an inspection to find out whether bats were nesting there.
A survey has now been conducted, finding “no evidence of bat or bird use”, and prompting the applicant, Calum Jones, to resubmit his HMO proposal.
The premises at 10 Clarence Place is a Grade-II listed building, meaning Newport City Council will also have to give special permission for construction work.
The building sits next to the city’s old Arts College – now flats – and is a few doors away from the former TJs nightclub, which in its heyday hosted gigs by Manic Street Preachers, The Stone Roses, Green Day and an up-and-coming Oasis.
In recent years, 10 Clarence Place has fallen into a “detrimental state” and years of rainwater leaking into the property have put it “at risk of irreversible dilapidation”.
The site is “in severe need of investment to reinstate the building to beneficial use”, according to a report by agents Kew Planning.
If planning permission is granted, the applicant will carry out an external restoration of the four-storey property, and “provide a practical, beneficial use for the building through contributing to Newport’s housing stock and reintroducing economic activity within the derelict ground floor”.
HMOs are typically properties with separate living accommodation for individual adult residents, and communal kitchen and living facilities.
In this case, the plans show a shared living area, a kitchen and an outdoor decked terrace area on the first floor, three bedrooms on the second floor – two of which would have en-suite bathrooms – and a further two bedrooms on the third floor.
The application can be viewed on the Newport City Council website under reference 23/0668, and the listed building application is available to view under reference 23/0669.
