Welshpool firm set for expansion after Newtown plan approved

Councillors have approved plans to extend a factory in Newtown which could create 25 jobs with a Welshpool firm now set to relocate.

Plans by Pear Stairs, which Boys and Boden own, to extend a factory building and re-profile land at Unit A on the town’s Vastre industrial estate came back in front of councillors at a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning Committee.

A decision on the application had been postponed at an earlier Planning Committee meeting on October 14 due to an “inappropriate public consultation”, in the lead up to the meeting in terms of “committee procedures”.

Deferring the proposal allowed more objectors to appear before the committee to air their views on the application.

But senior planning officer, Kate Bowen, again advised councillors to approve the application.

She said: “The public representations have been carefully considered. The economic benefits of the proposal are acknowledged and given weight as the development would support the relocation and expansion of an existing business.”

A council spokesman has confirmed that the application was approved.

Boys and Boden bought the site in November 2020 and have said that they need the extension to support an expansion of the firm's operations.

They have said that moving their existing Pear Stairs factory to Newtown is “integral” to their company’s future as they have “outgrown” their current base at Mill Lane in Welshpool.

They said that it will “not only” safeguard the 62 existing jobs but also increase the workforce by 40% through the creation of 25 new jobs. 

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporting Service