Guest house can become base for homeless

PLANS to turn a guest house in Llanbradach into emergency accommodation for the homeless have been given the go-ahead by Caerphilly Council.

Y Fron Guest House in Pwllypant was the subject of a planning application that will see the site converted into a house of multiple occupancy with a two-storey extension at the back.

The planned development, which was approved by the council’s planning committee, will span three floors. On the ground floor there will be a manager’s bedroom, two kitchens, two bedrooms with en-suite facilities and three studio apartments.

The first floor will include five bedrooms, two with en-suites, a bathroom and three studio apartments.

The second floor will contain three bedrooms. The studios on the ground and first floor will occupy the proposed extension.

In the council’s planning committee, Llanbradach ward member Cllr Colin Mann spoke out against the planning application.

Cllr Mann said: “Cllr (Robert) Gough and I were approached by residents who are concerned about the extension. There have been, as I understand, a series of incidents in the property. If there’s an extension of that sort of use it may exacerbate the nuisance that residence experienced.”

The agent for the application, Emma Harding, who is also the principal planner at Asbri Planning, highlighted the importance of the application for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This was echoed by Cllr Julian Simmonds.

He said: “I have two of these types of facilities in my ward here in Crosskeys, which are obviously for homeless people.

“We’ve had one or two little issues but these facilities are extremely well managed. They do have onsite managers, they do have floating support where social workers go in to make sure that residents are okay.

“There is security on these sites so there’s no need to worry about that and I just think it’s something I would recommend.”