GeogOnline... As GG2 - Gilwern
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		On the A4077 back road from Llangattock to Gilwern this large barn conversion is underway in the summer of 2003. Planning consent would have been difficult to obtain because it is in he National Park and is outside any designated settlement. Its farming heritage is clear but will it remain an agricultural homestead?
A large mansion  called Glaslyn Court, outside Gilwern, which is  a nursing home for the elderly. The home provides employment for local people and is one sector of employment growth in his rural area. Gilwern is in Monmouthshire - rather than Powys - and is closer to the urban settlements. It also has ready access to the Heads of the Valleys road A465(T)
		Like Crickhowell Gilwern gained many new housing estates in the 1970s. But unlike Crickhowell it also gained considerable new homes in the 1990s. This photo shows the HalfPennies and Shires estate of large 4 bedroomed detached  on the former greenfield southern edge of the village approaching the floodplain of the Usk.
Change of Use is  a common theme both in urban and rural settings. The photo shows the former Ty Mawr Approved School Site. Now used as an Outdoor Education centre by Gwent schools. There is outline planning consent on this site for a new housing and employment development. The consent cfomes fromits being a brownfield site. The Unitary Development Plan proposes a LIVE WORK scheme (a bit like the proposed urban village at Llandarcy) people would live and work at the same place without the need for commuting. Thus a sustainable development providing 'industrial' work in the local area rather than the 'hitech' concept of the Crickhowell televillage (which has not delivered!). Will it ever happen?
		The Gilwern Park Industrial Estate occupied principally by the US multinational concern Northern Automotive Systems. They bought out the British company Primographic which had made aluminium etchings for car engines and who diversified into plastic graphics. The site is close to the Heads of the Valleys Road with good access to trade in SE Wales. Gilwern used to be in Gwent / Blaenau Gwent and was considered an area needing much support hence the WDA investment in the estate.
Govion is the next settlement down the valley towards Abergavenny. The photo shows that traffic calming measures have been installed.Govilon is another large village that has undergone suburban development in the 1970s. It also has a  significant waterways development on its canal side. It is also within the BBNP.
		Housing estate in Govilion - a mixture of council and private. The village school is o this estate.
A view over the canal in Govilon.