Bridgend Council’s Planning Committee has approved an application by Porthcawl Town Council to convert the first floor of the Griffin Park Pavilion (pictured) into office space for 18 months.
The town council has the option to opt out of its current lease on offices at Mary Street in July.
In support of their application, the town council said that staff on-site would be able to assist people who use the park, playground and the ground floor of the pavilion.
There were objections from two county councillors representing Porthcawl – Cllr. Norah Clarke (Ind, Nottage) and Cllr. Robert Smith (Ind, Rest Bay).
The first floor is currently being used as storage and has a large snooker table that has been argued “would be difficult to accommodate elsewhere in Porthcawl”. There were also concerns that pavilion users haven’t been properly consulted – particularly the town’s bowls clubs and the town’s Veterans’ Hub.
Other objections (which you can read in full here – pdf) stated a preference for the first floor to be converted to use for sports, as well as pointing out that the pavilion isn’t fully compliant with disability access rules.
Loss of amenity space “limited”
During the meeting it was clarified that the town council themselves would continue to meet at the Porthcawl YMCA on John Street; the pavilion would be an administrative office.
Cllr. Della Hughes (Ind, Ogmore Vale) raised the disability access issue. In the plans, town council staff would come downstairs to meet any members of the public with disabilities, but Cllr Hughes asked what would happen if a person with disabilities applied for a job with the town council.
Cllr. Hughes was told that it would be for the town council to make “appropriate alterations” if that was the case.
Cllr. Simon Griffiths (Lab, Brackla East & Coychurch) raised concerns about the loss of amenity space. However, a planning officer said that as the application only related to part of the building, the amenity use wasn’t undermined. If it involved the whole building, it would be a bigger problem.
The application was approved subject to conditions on opening times and the installation of a bollard (with a management plan) to control vehicle access into the park.
