A BLACKWOOD councillor cited his own five years on the dole in calling on locals to help rescue 400 jobs for the area.

The issue of the ill-fated Blackwood Gate Retail Park will go before Caerphilly council planning officers again on December 5 - with councillor Nigel Dix saying the site is now "in the last chance saloon" and the jobs could soon be lost forever.

Presently, the site only has permission for bulky goods such as fridges, freezers and electricals to be sold there, but the main unit has been empty since Focus went bust last year.

The site’s owner Linnell Investments had lined up Morrisons to take the unit over, creating hundreds of jobs, but an application to allow a supermarket there was rejected by Caerphilly council planning officers earlier this year. One of the reasons given was that there are already two large out-of-town supermarkets nearby.

If the current application for a change of use is not accepted, Linnell are likely to walk away from Blackwood and bulldoze the site, an outcome Cllr Dix said would be "horrific".

He said: "I had five years on the dole and know what it’s like not to have money for presents, to pay bills and nice things, to just have enough to exist.

"That’s why I’m passionate about this. The thought of turning those jobs away is horrific."

Linnell has unsuccessfully approached hundreds of bulky goods companies and Cllr Dix said the recent problems experienced by Comet are an example of why none could be attracted to the site.

He said bulky goods are now predominantly sold online and attracting a major supermarket is the only way of "breathing life into the site".

Over 3,000 people have signed a petition calling for a supermarket to be based there and Cllr Dix urged locals to "support the push for jobs" when the issue is before the council on December 5.

Planner 'confident of success'

A spokesman for Linnell said: "We are confident that if we obtain planning consent, in line with our plans, we will see Blackwood Gate thriving again."

The latest planning application was received by Caerphilly council last month and proposes altering planning consent to allow food and non-food retail, bulky goods retail and leisure use.

It also proposes increasing parking on the site by demolishing the existing garden centre and introducing a signalised junction.

The application will be discussed by planning committee members on December 5.