Tor-faen
Steel buildings in Torfaen
Torfaen is a valley running from Blaenavon — an old iron and coal town with world heritage status for its industrial landscape — down through Pontypool to Cwmbran. The high ground in the north is hill grazing and part of it is inside the National Park; the valley floor is towns and industrial estates. Most of the borough is coalfield, so the mining map comes first for any site here — and around Blaenavon the World Heritage Site tightens the rules for garden buildings too.
Buildings designed, supplied and erected by South West Steel Buildings across Torfaen, including Cwmbran, Pontypool, Blaenavon, Abersychan and New Inn.
- Planning authority
- Council and Park
- Torfaen County Borough Council, or the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority inside the Park.
- Protected landscape
- Yes, in part
- Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
- On the coalfield
- Mostly
- Check the site on the mining map.
- Drainage approval
- The council
- Needed at 100 m² or more.
What to check first in Torfaen
Check the mining map first: most of Torfaen is coalfield. Around Blaenavon, the World Heritage Site and the edge of the National Park both matter — for a garden building as much as a farm one. On the valley sides expect a level platform to be the biggest part of the groundworks, and on exposed high ground tell the designer about the wind.
Planning in Torfaen
Most of Torfaen comes under Torfaen County Borough Council. The part inside Bannau Brycheiniog National Park — a small area in the north, above Blaenavon — comes under the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority instead, which is the planning authority there and looks closely at the siting and appearance of any new building.
The rules themselves are Welsh, not English — 465 m² on 5 hectares or more, a 28-day notice, no Class Q — and are set out in our planning guide for farm buildings in Wales.
Garden buildings. Torfaen includes protected land — Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape. There, a garage or workshop at a house more than 20 m from it is limited to 10 m² under permitted development, and nothing may go beside the house. See garages and workshops.
The ground, and the coal
Torfaen: Most of it sits on the South Wales coalfield, so old shallow workings and mine entries are a real foundation question — check the site on the mining authority’s map before anything is designed.
In the Mining Remediation Authority's Development High Risk Area, most planning applications need a Coal Mining Risk Assessment, and the pads may need a ground investigation first. The authority's guidance explains how to check a site.
The groundworks calculator works out the base for your own slope.
Drainage approval in Torfaen
At 100 m² or more, drainage needs SuDS Approval Body approval first — for Torfaen, Torfaen County Borough Council. Roofing an existing yard? See the £40/m² yard roofing grant.
Questions about building in Torfaen
Who decides planning for a farm building in Torfaen?
Torfaen County Borough Council for most of Torfaen; the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority for land inside Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, which covers a small area in the north, above Blaenavon.
Is Torfaen on the coalfield?
Most of it sits on the South Wales coalfield, so old shallow workings and mine entries are a real foundation question — check the site on the mining authority’s map before anything is designed.
Who approves drainage for a new building in Torfaen?
Torfaen County Borough Council, as the SuDS Approval Body for Torfaen, for anything covering 100 square metres or more.
Do you build in Cwmbran?
Yes. South West Steel Buildings design, supply and erect buildings across Torfaen, including Cwmbran, Pontypool, Blaenavon, Abersychan and New Inn.
Tell us what you want to put up in Torfaen
Rough span and length is enough. We reply the same day, wherever you are in Torfaen.