BLAENAU Gwent council has been ordered to pay costs after a planning decision was deemed “unreasonable” by the Welsh Government.

The council’s planning committee refused outline planning permission for a residential development in Tredegar after expressing road safety concerns.

Highways officers recommended approval and warned that refusal would bring a “high risk” of the council being hit by costs, and that there would be no budget to cover them.

But councillors turned the application down “in the absence of any evidence to justify the decision”, according to a report.

The application sought permission to build 18 homes on a playing field near the Woodlands Sports and Social Club, formally the Ashvale Club. A report said the overgrown field has not been used for 10 years.

Access to the development would be served by Griffiths Gardens, a cul-de-sac, with the council’s highways officer noting concerns about the suitability of the road.

But the officer said: “Whilst I appreciate that construction traffic may cause some disturbance on the highway network, this is inevitable with any development but is short term.”

An objecting resident said heavy goods vehicles would be unable to gain access to the site, fears shared by Tredegar Town Council.

The committee deferred a decision for a site visit in November 2017 before eventually opting to refuse permission at a meeting in February.

The reasons for refusal included claims that Griffiths Gardens was at capacity and unsuitable to accommodation additional vehicle and pedestrian movement.

But an officer said the argument contained “inherent flaws” and warned councillors that they would have to provide evidence to justify the decision.

An appeal was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate in May, with inspector Joanne Burston making a visit to Griffiths Gardens in July.

Ms Burston’s noted “very few” vehicle movements and, while admitting her visit was only a “snap shot” of local conditions, said the development would “not have such an impact highway capacity to warrant withholding of planning permission on this ground”.

Planning permission has since been granted with conditions, with the inspector also ruling in favour of Blaenau Gwent council paying costs to the applicant.

The decision reads: “I find that unreasonable behaviour resulting in unnecessary expense has been demonstrated.”

The council are still waiting for the exact figure of costs before the planning committee meets on September 6.

“There is no identified budget to meet this expenditure,” the report said.