In a blow to preserving the Grade II* listed building, the Welsh Government has overturned the local authority’s approval for the development of Troy House near Monmouth.

The plans have been kicked about for nearly 10 years and it was only in February last year that Monmouthshire County Council eventually approved the plans for a conversion of the 18th century building into 54 flats.It was a realisation that the overriding primary concern was saving the building from further deterioration, despite the plans being contrary to local and national planning policy.However the decision by the Welsh Governments Planning Inspector Kay Sheffield has led the Assembly Minister for housing and local government, Julie James AM, to refuse planning permission for the outline planning application.This will come as a bitter blow to owner and director of Timbershore Ltd Peter Carroll of Chepstow, who has owned the mansion since the 1970s. The 125-room building has been slowly deteriorating since the 1990s when it was a privately-run special school and was at one time a convent and later owned by the former Gwent County Council.The building is of some significance, with MCC cabinet member for innovation, enterprise and leisure Councillor Bob Greenland once describing Troy House as "probably one of the most important buildings in Monmouthshire".In a blow to preserving the Grade II* listed building, the Welsh Government has overturned the local authority’s approval for the development of Troy House near Monmouth.The plans have been kicked about for nearly 10 years and it was only in February last year that Monmouthshire County Council eventually approved the plans for a conversion of the 18th century building into 54 flats.It was a realisation that the overriding primary concern was saving the building from further deterioration, despite the plans being contrary to local and national planning policy.However the decision by the Welsh Governments Planning Inspector Kay Sheffield has led the Assembly Minister for housing and local government, Julie James AM, to refuse planning permission for the outline planning application.This will come as a bitter blow to owner and director of Timbershore Ltd Peter Carroll of Chepstow, who has owned the mansion since the 1970s. The 125-room building has been slowly deteriorating since the 1990s when it was a privately-run special school and was at one time a convent and later owned by the former Gwent County Council.The building is of some significance, with MCC cabinet member for innovation, enterprise and leisure Councillor Bob Greenland once describing Troy House as "probably one of the most important buildings in Monmouthshire".One of the main arguments thrown against the approved plans was that the residential development was within a "highly vulnerable" flood plain (flood zone C2), the arrow that fatally wounded the hotel and spa development on Hadnock Road, another application ’called-in’ by the Welsh Government.The other fatal blow was delivered with the decision that the development would conflict with planning policy laid down in the Welsh document Planning Policy Wales (PPW) regarding new development in open countryside and that exceptions to the planning rule did not apply in this case.However, the inspector noted the building is classed as "at risk with an elevated chance of decline" and "the architectural and historical importance of Troy House justifies an overriding need to save the building" and accepts that a "flexible approach" should be taken when trying to save the building, hinting that a scheme comparable to the one on the table would be needed to secure the restoration of the listed building.But she felt the overriding "breaching of national and local policies" took first place in the race to save the mansion.Another wounding strike the inspector foresaw was that both Cadw and Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) concluded the proposal would be likely to cause significant harm to the registered historic garden, particularly to the north and east of the house and including potential impacts on garden archaeology. She was concerned that there was not enough information submitted "to allow a full understanding of the impact of the proposals on the historic significance of the registered historic garden".Other material consideration such as access - the house only has right of way over the farm-owned driveway - and the bore-hole water supply were addressed and did not give rise to any problems within her remit.She concluded that the statutory requirement to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the listed building was "outweighed by the identified harm in respect of flooding and the location of the development in the open countryside". "The potential harm to the registered historic garden adds further weight against the proposal," she said.The only option available now is an appeal against the decision, or the owner may serve the council with a purchase order requiring it to purchase his interest in the land. The long list of conditions imposed if the application is allowed by appeal just adds further weight to an already overdue plan of resurrection for a building that in 1646 once hid the valuables of Raglan Castle when a Civil War win for the Parliamentarians seemed certain.