At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Thursday, April 23, a report will come before councillors on an application to convert numbers 28 and 29 Beaufort Street, Brynmawr.
Last October, Ross Cable of Cable Properties Limited lodged an application with Blaenau Gwent planners to change the use of the former shops from retail to allow an indoor children’s play area to be developed on the ground floor.
The upper floors would be converted into seven self-contained flats which would be made up of studio and one-bedroom flats.
Three of these would be studio “apartments”, with the other four becoming one-bedroom “apartments.”
The reason for bringing the application to committee is that the proposal deviates from the Local Development Plan (LDP), which includes policies to guard against losing shops in primary retail areas.
Planning agent Paul Parsons of Creation Design explained the proposal in a Design and Access Statement.
Mr Parsons said: “The buildings are currently vacant and show signs of deterioration, detracting from the town centre.”
Documents show that there are only two car parking spaces at the back of the property for future residents, but there is a 32-space car park nearby.
Mr Parsons continued: “The proposal supports reuse of vacant town centre premises, it delivers community benefits, supports housing delivery and contributes to the regeneration of Brynmawr.”
The planning report which will be presented to councillors explains that the use of the building as a shop came to an end several years ago and that there are no records of what use the upper floors of the building had at the time.
Due to the “limited” marketing information given to the council to show that the applicant had tried advertising the property for retail use, an objection had been made by the council’s planning policy officers.
This is because the loss of the shop use in a primary retail area would be against policy.
The report said: “In this instance, being mindful that the annual town centre surveys confirm the premises has been vacant since 2022 and that interest has been limited.
“Planning policy consider that these could be used as material planning considerations in the planning application, justifying a departure from the development plan.”
The report explains that councillors should consider whether it is better to have retail units in use instead of being empty.
The report said: “Due to its nature, a children’s play centre use is considered acceptable within a town centre location.
“The proposed use will encourage more footfall to the town centre and primary retail area, which in turn may increase consumer spending and contribute to the vitality and viability of the town centre and primary retail area.”
“With regard to the proposed accommodation, residential premises at first and second floors are permitted and encouraged within town centre locations as they provide a useful addition to the residential stock and bring new life to town centres.”
“It is considered that this development would not undermine the LDP.”
Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.
Due to this, a planning officer is expected to recommend that councillors approve the application.
Comments
This article has no comments yet. Be the first to leave a comment.