COUNCILLORS unanimously backed plans to transform part of Conwy County Council’s former Bodlondeb HQ into a mixed-use hub featuring a new dental practice.
The council’s planning committee approved the proposals at a meeting at the authority’s Coed Pella HQ on Wednesday, 13 May.
The application, submitted by Glamorgan-based Ideas Forum, sought permission to change part of the Grade II listed former council offices on Bangor Road, Conwy, into a mixed-use development.
The new development will comprise offices, a games hub for companies specialising in gaming, a café, and a dental practice.
Planning officers had recommended to the committee they were “minded to grant” the application with no objection from Conwy Town Council.
The plans will see the ground floor of the west wing converted from offices into a dental practice, while the existing reception and adjacent offices will be turned into a “collaboration café”.
Works also include installing solar panels on the roof, adding four rooflights, replacing two windows with ventilation grilles, constructing a canopy at ground level, and building a bin store.
Speaking in support of the application, Dylan Jones-Evans said: “Bodlondeb needs a sustainable future, and our proposal offers an ambitious, practical, and deeply rooted one in Conwy.
“Bodlondeb is not just another building; it was a civic asset located in one of the most distinctive settings in Wales, close to the town walls, the estuary and Bodlondeb woods.
“Its value is not only architectural but also communal because the people of Conwy know this building as part of the town’s civic life.
“The best way to protect that value is to keep it active, accessible, and relevant. It is also important to remember that Bodlondeb has never been a static building. It began as a private country house in the 19th century, later became a civic centre, then council offices, and was extended in the 1990s to meet the needs of that time.”
He added: “This proposal represents the next careful chapter in that long pattern of adaptation. Our vision is to turn Bodlondeb into a nationally significant but locally rooted centre for entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity.
“It will be a place where ideas become businesses, where founders are supported, and a place where young people and local entrepreneurs have a place to start and grow, and where Conwy can become known not only for its heritage and tourism but also for enterprise and ambition.”
He added it was about “giving a new economic purpose to a very important civic building” that would include a “a new 10-surgery dental practice that would provide much-needed healthcare capacity for thousands of people on the North Wales coast”.
Cllr Nigel Smith said it was important the council secured the future of the building. Cllr Jo Nuttall proposed the plans be approved, and councillors voted in favour of the application.
The council moved to its new Coed Pella HQ in 2018 before agreeing to lease Bodlondeb to Ideas Forum last year, who have since transformed the building into a business centre as a platform for entrepreneurs. A second listed building application was also approved at the meeting as part of the development.
