A proposal to increase the care facilities at the site of a historic listed building in the middle of Brecon has been withdrawn.

Back in March, London-based Hapus Care Group lodged full and listed building planning applications with Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (BBNPA) planners to build a single-storey extension at the back of the Grade II* listed Morgannwg House Care Home.

The extension would provide 10 en-suite bedrooms and extra living areas, as well as the associated hard and soft landscaping.

The care home currently has 20 rooms and planning agent Mark Heyes of 5373 Design + Planning had said in a planning statement that the extension is needed to allow the company to maintain Morgannwg House “in an economically sustainable condition”.

He explained that the previous owners had struggled to make ends meet unless the care home was fully occupied.

An extension was built at Morgannwg House in the 1990s to provide additional living and bedroom accommodation and planning permission to convert the old gymnasium into care uses has been granted in the past, but this has now expired.

Earlier this month BBNPA’s senior heritage officer Cyllene Griffiths produced an updated report on the proposal and said that the “previous concerns” had not been “properly addressed”.

Ms Griffiths said: “The revised information provides insufficient detail.

“This is simply not the standard required nor sufficient information for a major development in such a sensitive heritage location and it is disappointing that the applicant has not taken into account the detailed advice provided and amended the scheme accordingly.

“The garden setting positively contributes to an understanding of and the significance of the Grade II* Listed Building and other designated assets in the area, it is therefore desirable to preserve it.

“It is not considered that this proposal would achieve that aim and it is therefore contrary to the requirements of the legislation and policies.”

Ms Griffiths goes on to recommend refusing the proposal.

In response Mr Heyes said: “It was with some surprise that we discovered the heritage officer’s response as we had thought that there was some sympathy for this approach.”

He asked for a meeting with BBNPA to discuss whether the rejection is of the design or the principle of the development, and what is needed to overcome the objection.

But following talks Mr Heyes withdrew the plan, but will look at alternative proposals for the care home.

Mr Heyes explained that he put forward a pre-application submission to reconfigure the previous extension to Morgannwg House as well as the old gymnasium.

Morgannwg House was built in the 19th century for a lawyer and his family.

It was given Grade II* listed building status in 1952 for being of special architectural, historical, and cultural significance.

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The building has been used as a convent school, and when the site was split, Morgannwg House and other associated buildings were retained and converted to become a care home.