Plan to turn hotel into care home

PLANS to turn a former hotel in the Rhondda into a care home are going back before councillors to discuss their reasons for refusing them.

There are plans to turn the former Diamond Jubilee Hotel on East Road in Tylorstown into a care home but Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s planning committee voted against the plans in March against the advice of officers.

Their reasons included concerns about over-development, the amenity of future residents and issues relating to traffic, parking and access arrangements.

The decision has been deferred back to the planning committee meeting tomorrow for a further report to highlight the potential strengths and weaknesses of going against the officers’ recommendation.

The planning report said that if councillors still wish to vote against the application, the suggested reasoning is: “The proposed development is unable to demonstrate provision of adequate off-street parking facilities for residents, staff and visitors commensurate with the scale and intensity of its use.

“Consequently, the creation of demand for on-street parking in the vicinity of the site would be harmful to highway safety, the free flow of traffic and the amenity of neighbouring occupiers.

“Furthermore, the proposed accommodation would either be in close proximity to a busy highway or suffer from poor outlook, which together with limited facilities and external space, would create a poor quality living environment to the detriment of future residents of the proposed care home.”

The planning report said the building has been empty for a considerable period of time but that as well as its main past use as a hotel, it also had a bar, restaurant and food takeaway.

The plan is for 20 single bedrooms and five double bedrooms to house a maximum of 30 people in need of care.