Plans to demolish Tredegar church for houses are questioned

PLANS to demolish a church in Tredegar and build houses at the site have been questioned.
On Thursday, July 6, at a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning Committee, it was revealed that a proposal to demolish Bethania Congregational Church in Tredegar had been approved by officers under delegated powers.
At the meeting councillors had been provided with a list of planning application that had been decided by officers under delegated powers between May 30 and June 22.
On the list was a proposal – lodged back in October 2022 – to knock down Bethania Congregational Church in Southend, Tredegar, and replace it with six terraced houses.
The scheme included car parking space for two vehicles per plot, with landscaping and ecological enhancements included.
The planning agent who is involved with the application was Crickhowell-based FTAA limited.
Committee chairwoman, Cllr Lisa Winnett asked councillors if they had comments for application on the delegated list.
Cllr Wayne Hodgins said: “The demolishing of the Congregational church – a church is a key building in an area.
“I thought that might have come through to committee.”
Head of planning Steve Smith said: “As far as I’m aware it’s not a listed building and there was no member call-in.”
Planning officer Helen Hinton who dealt with the proposal said: “We went to full consultation and in this instance, there were no statutory objections – the application was determined under delegated powers.”
Cllr Hodgins thanked officers for the explanation and the list was noted by the committee.
The church was built in 1909 and when the plans were made public of the applicants’ intention to demolish the church several Facebook posts were made in Tredegar groups looking to start a campaign to save the building. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​