Planning inspector criticised for allowing a flat conversion in Abertillery

BLAENAU Gwent councillors have slammed the decision of a government planning inspector to agree an appeal allowing a flat conversion in Abertillery to go ahead.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Thursday, June 15, members discussed the planning inspector’s report on the appeal.
In July 2022,  Louis Lattuca submitted plans to convert number 2 Market Street in Abertillery into flats.
The ground floor flat would have two bedrooms, while the one on the first floor would have three.
Blaenau Gwent planning officers refused the application last August due to the lack of car parking spaces.
Mr Lattuca then appealed against the decision to PEDW (Planning and Environment Decision Wales).
Last month, planning inspector Ian Stevens allowed the appeal to stand.
Mr Stevens found that there are a number of nearby car parks and other on street parking options available for potential renters or buyers of the property
At the meeting, planning officer Helen Hinton said: “It’s a very interesting decision for us.
“We appreciate accessibility to sustainable transport but also note the highways managers concerns to the existing on street parking and car parking facilities being oversubscribed.
“We will wait to see what the implications of this decision are in terms of future applications in Abertillery.
She added that “as it stands” the highway concerns remain for the council.
“Car parking in the area is an increasing problem,” said Ms Hinton.
Cllr Malcolm Day added: “It’s very tight narrow streets around there and there is car parking there but as we all know very few people want to park in car parks.
“They all want to park outside where they live, all it would do is add congestion to the area.”
Cllr Julie Holt said: “I agree with our officers on this one I do think it was a reasonable outcome to say that parking would be a problem.
“It’s all right for people at mission control in Cardiff to say there’s sustainable travel and all this, but we all know there isn’t that option in the valleys.
“Public transport is appalling and people do want to park on their doorstep.”
Cllr Holt added that some car parks are closed overnight and someone who needs to start early for work wouldn’t be able to get their vehicle out.
“Parking is going to continue as a problem right across the borough not just in Abertillery there will be problems arising from parking in that area,” said Cllr Holt.
The committee noted the report. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​