Bowls club set to build new home after ‘total loss’ to fire

A bowls club which lost its home to a fire has won planning permission for the building’s reconstruction.

A blaze ripped through Gilfach Bowling Club in June 2022, destroying a wooden clubhouse and memorabilia inside.

The site, off Maes y Graig Street, was later cleared and reduced to a “concrete slab”.

Caerphilly County Borough Council has now backed a proposal to restore the club following the “total loss” of the previous facility.

Designs for the new building include a viewing gallery, main lounge room, toilets, changing rooms, a kitchen, bar and storage rooms.

Council planning officers described the proposed replacement club as “modest in size, with a low overall height” and with a “simple design”.

They granted planning permission, subject to conditions.

No members of the public objected to the plans, during a recent consultation process, and in her application form, planning agent Beth Leader, of the council’s property services department, said local residents “fully support the replacement community building”.