A GRADE II listed church in the heart of Pontypool is set to be turned into a £1.6m cultural centre under plans put in front of council chiefs.

Regeneration bosses are looking at converting the disused St James’ church in Hanbury Road into a major community hub, it was confirmed last week.

The church near the civic centre would become a multi function community centre with arts and crafts and office space, the proposals circulated to Pontypool town leaders show.

Funding has already been set aside towards the church refurbishment as part of an £8m Torfaen regeneration project called the Vibrant and Viable Places programme.

But the money allocated for St James is small – around £100,000 – and additional funding will have to come from other revenue streams.

A report circulated to Pontypool Community Council shows that an £800,000 heritage lottery grant could be sought to carry out the works.

Additional funds would also be needed and the overall cost of the project could reach £1.6m, according to the report.

The conversion could help to rejuvenate the town, which is also set to benefit from the Vibrant and Viable Places programme in future years.

Around £1.4m has been allocated to refurbish premises for residential, creative and commercial use in Commercial Street as part of this programme.

And another £1.5m from the programme is to be spent to bring empty properties into use and increase residential accommodation in Pontypool.

The regeneration schemes also come as the £2.3m revamp of the grade II listed Pontypool Indoor Market in nearby Market Street reaches completion.

Torfaen council confirmed on Thursday it was looking at turning the disused church into a community hub but stressed that St James was currently owned by an unnamed private developer.

A Torfaen council spokesman said: “We are currently looking at St James’ church as one of a number of options to establish a community or cultural centre.

“Any of these options will need considerable fundraising from various sources, and most will also require discussions with the private owners.

“The church is currently empty and owned by a private developer.”