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Proposals for 17 new homes in Abertridwr have won planning permission following an agreement over affordable housing.
The applicants, Gwen Gould and Ann Kinor, have proposed building a mixture of houses and flats on land at the eastern end of the village’s Coedcae Road.
Two four-bedroom houses, nine two-bedroom apartments and six one-bedroom apartments have been earmarked for the “open land with no current use”.
A bid for outline planning permission was first submitted in January 2024 – and has now been approved after the applicants and Caerphilly County Borough Council signed a so-called Section 106 agreement.
What is a Section 106 agreement?
People who apply for planning permission for larger projects are often asked to make Section 106 contributions – a deal that comes under Wales and England’s 1990 Town and Country Planning Act.
Simply put, a developer can offset, or even compensate, a local authority for some of the impacts their proposed construction could have on an area – such as a new housing estate causing added pressure on nearby schools.
Sometimes, the Section 106 agreement might be for the developer to carry out a specific piece of work, like the building of a new playground or community centre.
In other cases, an applicant or developer may agree to pay a sum of money to the council, which will then be spent on social housing or affordable homes.
While Section 106 deals can later be amended or even cancelled, they are generally an acceptable way for councils to make sure communities benefit directly from large-scale developments near their homes.
That deal secures around £124,000 towards the provision of off-site affordable housing within the county borough, and will be payable when the eighth of the proposed new homes becomes occupied.
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