A COMMERCIAL landlord has blasted council planners who’ve refused him permission to keep roller shutters on a town centre shop plagued by vandalism.
The steel shutters had been put up to cover the windows of the unit in Osborne Road, Pontypool following a spate of vandalism and a break in May last year, which led to the tenants, who’d installed them without planning permission, to relocate.
Landlord Peter Cox applied for retrospective permission, in February, to keep the shutters but Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department has refused to allow them, stating the security measure “detracts” from the appearance of the building in the town centre and next to the conservation area.
But Mr Cox said he couldn’t understand the decision with Pontypool blighted by empty shops and many with boarded-up windows.
He said: “About 100 yards away there’s an empty shop with plywood to replace the glass and it’s horrendous to look at. It appears the planners would prefer to see shop fronts boarded up with plywood than see roller shutter doors.
“I don’t understand the logic. Pontypool town centre is a ghost town now compared to what it was in the 1960s and 70s.”
Mr Cox’s application highlighted concerns over anti-social behaviour in Pontypool, including screenshots of reports in various media outlets, and noted 30 windows were smashed in the Cwmbran Shopping Centre in just one night in February.
A history of incidents of vandalism, an attempted break-in in and the break-in at the Osborne Road shop were also included in the application that stated Torfaen’s supplementary planning guidance doesn’t strictly rule out shutters and only says: “The use of roller shutters should be avoided”.
Mr Cox said he had also painted the shutters “ivory” from “a horrible bright red” and said he thinks the council should require shutters to be kept in a good condition.
But he said if shops are let shutters will only be pulled down out of hours: “The shop is still available to let. There’s been interest but people don’t want to take it on with a security issue and the council aren’t getting any tax from it.
“The shutters will only be down when shops are closed but instead they will be down if shops are not surviving.”
Mr Cox said he intends appealing the refusal to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW).
A report by planning officer Caroline Pulley stated while the council’s policy says steel roller shutters “should be avoided” it adds: “bulky shutter boxes attached to the building frontage should not be used.”
Her report noted the building is “immediately adjacent” to the conservation area so the design principles apply and said “the roller shutter has a harmful impact on the character and appearance of the surrounding area” including when shops are closed.