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Search the Public Notice PortalA listed building consent application has been approved by Newport City Council to revive a derelict Grade II-listed building.
Located in Clarence Place, the building will be converted into a seven-bed hostel above a refurbished restaurant unit.
The three-storey building has been empty for several years and is part of a row of five Grade II-listed properties between the former Technical Institute and numbers 20 to 34 on Clarence Place.
Planning officers described the building as "vacant and derelict," noting long-standing issues with anti-social behaviour, rubbish, vermin, vandalism, and criminal activity within the property.
Its neglected state has contributed to what officers called a "dead frontage" along a key route into Newport city centre.
The approved plans include repairing the building’s structure, restoring architectural details, and installing a new shopfront.
Internal works will include reconfigured partitions and the staircase reconfigured to meet building regulations.
The ground floor will be retained as an A3 unit, which the applicant plans to return to use as a restaurant.
The first floor will include two en-suite bedrooms, a kitchen, and a meeting room.
Four more en-suite bedrooms will be located on the second floor, with two additional rooms in the attic, bringing the total to seven.
The decision follows the council’s recent refusal of a separate application for an eight-bed hostel at the same site.
That application was rejected over concerns about overdevelopment, insufficient communal and outdoor space, poor privacy, and the impact of transient occupancy in an area already facing social challenges.
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However, planning officers clarified that those concerns were not relevant to the listed building consent application, which deals solely with listed building consent.
The council’s principal heritage officer raised no objection to the plans, noting that the majority of the changes were internal and consistent with a previous consent for converting the upper floors to an HMO.
Cadw also confirmed it had no objection to the application.
A spokesman said: "The works would cause only a slight visual change in views from Newport Castle and no impact on the castle’s setting."
The council was required under the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 to give special regard to preserving the building, its setting and its features of special architectural or historic interest.
Planning officers supported the proposal, highlighting its potential to improve a key entrance to the city.
A spokesman said the scheme has "significant urban regeneration and economic development merit" by reusing vacant listed stock and supporting the vitality of the nearby city centre.
Consent was granted subject to conditions to protect the building’s historic character.
These include detailed requirements for materials, rainwater goods, rooflights, external doors, air vents, and the new staircase.
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