CONTROVERSIAL plans by Torfaen council to demolish a home for the elderly were yesterday approved by planners.

Torfaen council's planning and licensing committee agreed the George Lansbury Home for Old People in Pettingale Road, Croesyceiliog, Cwmbran, could be bulldozed to make way for 21 state-of-the-art close care units for the over-65s.

It also agreed to extend the capacity of Cwmbran House Resource Centre at Five Locks Road to accommodate 37 more beds.

The authority plans - part of proposals to transfer its residential homes to the private sector - are well under way to abandon the running of all five of its residential homes and pass control over to the non-profit-making HAFOD Housing Association. The planned development at the George Lansbury Home will include five bungalows, 16 flats and a community room.

Council chiefs came under fire at a packed public meeting at the home last month when local people claimed they had been kept in the dark over the transfer.

But Stewart Greenwell, assistant director of Torfaen social services, reassured those present that the council's decision was made to safeguard the home and was in the interests of the residents.

He told the meeting: "We made a judgement to protect services - if we had not envisaged this, three of the five homes would have had to close with no alternative provision." Gary Birch, Torfaen's director of social services, welcomed yesterday's news. He said residents would be consulted at every step of the development and given an opportunity to voice their opinions.

He said: "Every individual and their family will be consulted about the best choice available to them and as to where they will be relocated while the work goes on, and the time scale for completion is approximately five years."

The new units, the council stresses, would be of the "highest quality" and include en-suite bathrooms and disabled access.

The units will be secured with CCTV cameras and residents will be provided with cooking and cleaning services.

There are no plans in the pipeline for changes to its remaining residential homes - Arthur Jenkins in Blaenavon, Plasygarn in Pontypool and Ty Gwyn, Fairwater, Cwmbran.