Caerphilly County Borough Council has approved planning permission for a new shop and a flat in a former social club near Elliots Town, New Tredegar.

At a meeting on Wednesday September 13, members of the planning committee heard the old Cwmsyfiog Ex-Servicemens Club, in Queen’s Road, had been closed since 2015 and was now “boarded up”.

Planning officer Joe Simmons told the meeting people living nearby had raised some questions about road safety and noise, and chairman Cllr Roy Saralis said the application had been referred to the committee after “concerns raised by a number” of neighbours.

But Caerphilly County Borough Council planning documents described the current site as “vacant and in a poor state of upkeep”.

Mr Simmons told councillors the proposed worlds would “clearly be a visual benefit” for the area.

Committee members voted to grant planning permission, subject to several conditions including that the proposed shop’s opening hours should be between 7am and 11pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and between 7am and 10pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

Deliveries to the business should be limited to the hours from 8am to 8pm.