Iconic town hall to become mental health clinic

The iconic Newtown Park Offices could be converted into a mental health clinic with consulting rooms under new plans, town councillors have heard.

Town councillors at the last meeting of the Council's Economy & Environment Committee on the 8th January 2024 considered a planning application from NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership to convert the iconic landmark in Newtown - the Park Offices from offices to offices and mental health consulting rooms.

In a letter written by the planning agents, Asbri Planning, it states that proposals are due to increasing demand for local mental health care facilities.

"The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s mental health is well recognised. It is also well reported that there is a lack of capacity and availability in community mental health services."

"As such, in a post-Covid world more support for mental health services is vital for the local community. The NHS, as the responsible body for meeting the health and well-being needs of the people of Newtown and Powys as a whole, is providing the necessary services that are subject of this planning application"

"The planning application relates to the change of use of part of the ground floor of the planning unit from office use (B1 use class) to an office use (B1 use class) and mental health clinic and consulting rooms (D1 use class). 12 rooms of the ground floor of the building are to be occupied and used by the applicant as a mental health clinic and consulting rooms with offices associated with the D1 use. As such, the area to be used as D1 totals 184 sqm. The proposed number of employees is 12 for the D1 healthcare element, and 21 employees for the remaining part of the ground floor to be used as B1 office use associated with the healthcare purposes."

"The building is to operate Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. The waste storage and collection arrangements in the car park, as utilised by the previous occupier, will be maintained."

The building, which is owned by Powys County Council was recently leased to Powys Teaching Health Board as part of a series of proposals to cut costs for the county council.

At their meeting, town councillors decided to support the plans.

The Town Council is a statutory consultee and submits comments to Powys County Council's Planning Department and does not make the final decision. The final decision will be made by Powys County Council at either their Planning Committee or delegated to officers.

The application can be viewed online here and using reference '23/1917/FUL'. Comments can be submitted via the Planning Portal.