Planning permission has been requested to transform a Monmouthshire village pub into a four-bedroom dwelling after a project to turn it into apartments failed to materialise last year.

Locals and protesters gathered outside the Corn Exchange, in Gilwern, in November after it had emerged the plan to turn it into flats would not be going ahead.

Above all, they told the Chronicle at the time that they wanted to make their voices heard but would have loved to have seen their beloved local saved.

“It is also about letting people know we are taking notice of the situation, and will not take this lying down,” said David Morgan, who has lived in Gilwern since 2008.

“I am personally appalled at the mess that has been left around the pub, the flower boxes are still there and the for sale sign is still up.”

Now that a new application has been submitted, and it isn’t a given that planning permission is granted and the local community is adamant they will make their voices heard.

An application was validated by the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority on Thursday December 18 2025 and is still awaiting a final decision. That means objections can be made via the authority’s website.

Campaigners had left a banner at the site of the oldest pub in the village, reading “Save our community! Save our pub! Save the Corn Exchange!”

That was taken down within hours of the protest ending, which was attended by the leader of Monmouthshire County Council, Cllr Mary Ann Brocklesby.

The application was made by Mr Robert Evans, a businessman and property developer from the area who had previously campaigned to keep the pub open.

In documents seen by the Chronicle, the developer clearly wrote in social media posts, dated from June last year, that “It was built as a pub and should remain as a pub” and that “A valid ground for objection... is a loss to the village of a pub.”

Mr Evans was also among the over 100 objectors to the plan to turn it into four flats and a house built on the adjacent car park earlier in 2025, submitted by a Mr Huw Jones. The latter of the two eventually withdrew the planning application and sold up following pressure from the community. It was at this point that Mr Evans bought the Corn Exchange.

The permanent loss of the premises as a pub to a residential property would herald the end of an era in the tightly knit community, as there has been some form of hospitality premises on the site since the mid-1800s.

The Corn Exchange’s recent history has been more chequered. The building was also on the market in 2023 and was briefly reopened in 2024, after it was sold for the sum of £375,000. However, the revival was short-lived.

“The people that come here are tremendous and I have never seen a bit of bother,” said Robin Collins, who was one of the regulars at the pub.

“It’s the friendliest pub I have ever seen and it is such a shame that it now seems it will be turned into a house.”