Gwynedd approves £2.2m plans for Peacocks in Bangor

A unanimous vote by the council’s planning committee gave developer Pollecoff House the green light to transform the former store into apartments.

Pollecoff proposed creating 24 one and two-bedroom apartments at the former Peacock’s store on High Street in Bangor. Of those, 18 will be created on the top floors of the building and six will be included in a new block of apartments built on derelict land to the rear.

The one-bedroom apartments will range from 322 sq ft to 581 sq ft in size. The two-bedroom apartments range will from 861 sq ft to 947 sq ft.

Plans to turn the ground floor into a co-working space and enterprise hub for business development also feature in the plans for the £2.2m project.

The planning approval is subject to conditions, including a section 106 agreement to ensure a contribution to open space and further consideration regarding the need to provide affordable homes within the development.

The 10,412 sq ft Peacocks store closed in September 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

BR Architecture is leading on design, and the planning consultant is Cadnant Planning.

Rhys Davies, director at Cadnant, gave the company’s reaction to the approval.

“We are pleased, that despite concerns raised by planning officers relating to an over-provision of one- and two-bedroom apartments in Bangor, the planning committee members saw the wider economic benefits of this mixed-use proposal.”

Gwynedd Council’s Economic Development Team has provided £175,000 towards the project via the Property Renovation and Improvement Scheme.

At the same meeting, Gwynedd Council deferred a decision on a planning application for the development of a natural compressed bio-gas fuel facility at Bryn Cegin in Bangor. This is so that a site visit for the committee members can be held. No date has yet been fixed for the site visit, but it will be after the local election, according to the council.