43 affordable apartments at Former Fulgonis restaurant, Porthcawl

“PROPOSAL: Demolition of the buildings at the former Fulgoni’s restaurant and redevelopment of the site to form a five-storey landmark building containing 43no. affordable apartments, a commercial/community space and adjusted access and associated works, including substation…”

“DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT This planning Application seeks consent for the proposed demolition of the former Fulgoni’s restaurant and the construction of a four to five-storey apartment block (with a projecting lift and stair core) for a total of 43 apartments (35 x one bedroom flats and 8 x two bedroom flats) for persons over 55 years old, a commercial unit/community space and an adjusted access and associated works including a substation.”

“The former Fulgoni’s restaurant is located to the east of John Street, to the west of the A4106, to the north of the Police Station and to the south of the underpass walkway.”

“The site currently comprises a single storey flat roofed restaurant building attached to two separate two storey pitched roof houses. The broadly rectangular plot covers an area of approximately 0.2Ha and is relatively flat. The site is approximately 70m to the north of Porthcawl Conservation Area.”

“Porthcawl Town Council – Objections:- • Provision of 26 spaces for parking with 44 units being constructed will lead to parking overflows on streets impacting local business and residents. • The road safety report was carried out in November 2025 and confirms low traffic flows which are not indicative of peak flows of traffic in the summer months. • Objection to proposed 5 floors not in keeping with the surrounding area, nothing in that area is that high also.”

“Shared Regulatory Services (Contaminated Land Section) – No objection subject to conditions and an informative statement in accordance with CIEH best practice and to ensure that the safety of future occupiers is not prejudiced in accordance with policy DNP9 of the Bridgend County Borough Council Replacement Local Development Plan (2024).”

“2) Visual Intrusion - The proposed building height would be visually intrusive for residents of the lower section of Victoria Avenue and adversely impact on their amenity space. 3) Parking concerns - Although there have been modifications to the design in terms of allocated parking spaces there is still a substantial shortfall to the proposed number of residential units.....parking in the immediate vicinity is restricted to 30 minutes and only South Road is free of…”

“Over-intensification of the site 2. Lack of on-site parking 3. Height and scale of building 4. Loss of retail space on John Street 5. Potential noise disturbance on neighbouring residential properties 6. Potential loss of privacy 7. Potential loss of light 8. Overshadowing of neighbouring properties 9. Visual impact of the proposed 5 storey building not in keeping with the surrounding street scene 10. Remodelling of road and junction and highway safety 11.”

“The Application and original Recommendation were considered by the Development Control Committee on 11 June 2026. Members voted against the Recommendation to grant the Application by seven (7) votes to six (6).”

“Members debated the application and agreed to vote upon whether it should be approved subject to conditional consent. The result of the vote was that the application be REFUSED by eight (8) votes to four (4).”

“The proposed development, by reason of its excessive height, scale, width, bulk and massing, would result in an over-dominant and visually intrusive form of development that fails to respect local distinctiveness, contrary to Policy SP3 of the Bridgend Replacement Local Development Plan (2024) and advice contained within Planning Policy Wales 12 (2024) and Technical Advice Note 12: Design (2016).”

“The proposed development, by reason of its design, scale and siting, would result in an overly prominent and intrusive feature when viewed from Porthcawl Conservation Area failing to preserve or enhance its setting, contrary to Policy SP3 of the Bridgend Replacement Local Development Plan (2024) and advice contained within Planning Policy Wales 12 (2024), Technical Advice Note 24: The Historic Environment (2026) and Part 4 of the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023.”