The future of a landmark Grade II listed chapel in Abergavenny has finally been decided after 13 years in limbo.

Monmouthshire County Council has granted full planning permission for Pen-y-Fal Chapel at Parc Pen-y-Fal to be converted into six luxury dwellings that will ‘showcase and sympathetically embrace the building’s fine Victorian features’.

For the owner Atlanta O’Connor, of AOC Design & Development Ltd, the decision comes as a huge relief and she now plans to put the old chapel on the market as a development project.

Pen-y-Fal Chapel was built in the grounds of Pen-y-Fal Hospital in 1883 for the use of patients and staff.

Since the hospital’s closure in the 1990s the imposing Victorian building has been boarded up awaiting a new lease of life.

County Councillor Doug Edwards says the tangled saga of the chapel since its closure has been a disaster for the council and the community.

“Pen-y-Fal was bought by developers Redrow in 2001 under a Section 106 agreement – giving certain concessions to MCC for developing the site,” he explained.

“One was that the chapel would be handed over to MCC having been put in good order for use as a community centre, with the developers putting aside £75,000 into its long-term maintenance.

“But the council officer involved failed to realise he had a 12 month deadline to sort things out and missed the date.

“Redrow in effect said ‘hard luck’ and put the building on the market - and we lost £75,000 with it.”

Step in Atlanta Williams (pictured), then in her 20s and running her own estate agency in the town centre, who in partnership with a friend bought the chapel at auction in 2002, initially aiming to convert it into a health spa.

“We knew MCC felt they had lost a community resource and we thought they might favour a planning application for a commercial use,” she said.

“But the council didn’t accept our plans. In fact the building had always screamed ‘residential’ to me so we then put forward plans for two large houses - which were accepted.

“We started marketing it as a development project in places like The Times and Savilles of Cardiff but people who visited the site said it simply didn’t make sense to convert it into two units – the 10,000 sq ft space was way too big.

“So eventually we decided to go for a development of six units and brought in architect Roger Field from Crickhowell who has come up with a beautiful design.

“In his plans, the exterior will remain exactly the same, with the huge windows and big, heavy doors.

“The units inside will be built on three levels, in town house style, each with a very large open plan living area and kitchen/diner and with two en suite bedrooms.

“And all the main rooms will have one fabulous original feature, such as one of the 18ft church windows.”

Atlanta and husband Anthony say they would love to take on the project themselves but with his work commitments and her time taken up by three small children it simply isn’t possible.

“We just don’t have the time to do it ourselves but it’s a wonderful project for someone,” said Atlanta.

“We love the chapel – which has been renamed The Retreat – and would really like someone local to take it on.

“It’s taken 13 years to reach this point. In that time I’ve got married, lived in London, returned to Monmouthshire and had three children! It’s a huge relief that we’ve finally made progress.”

Councillor Edwards still has mixed feelings about it all.

“It was a tragedy that we missed out on having a community centre there. It would have been a real asset now with the new estate in the area and all the new builds around it plus the Coed Glas development in the future.

“But that’s in the past and I suppose we have to accept this news with good grace,” he said.