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Plans for a new HMO (house in multiple occupation) have been approved in Elliot’s Town, New Tredegar, despite concerns around parking.

The applicant, Oliver Dean, proposes making “minor internal alterations” to 98 Queen’s Road by creating an extra bathroom on the property’s top floor.

HMOs are typically properties for single, unrelated adults who have their own private bedrooms but share other communal areas.

Mr Dean’s application shows the property has been “vacant for some time” and was previously a family home.

In a report, Caerphilly County Borough Council planning officers said the proposed change of use to a HMO “is not considered to lead to a significant increase in activities at the property over and above” its current layout.

“The use of the building would remain as residential, albeit in a different format,” they judged. “The change of use is not considered to materially change the character of the building.”

The report shows two objections were received during a recent public consultation period, alleging the proposal would “impact an already difficult area for parking”.

The objectors also said buses “struggle to travel along the road” and claimed “noise and disruption would increase” if the HMO was approved.

New Tredegar ward councillor Eluned Stenner also objected to the proposal, arguing Queen’s Road has “serious parking issues”.

But the council planners said the property has three off-street parking spaces in a rear garden area, and decided the HMO proposal would not have an “adverse impact upon highway safety”.

They reached the same conclusion regarding bus concerns, and said noise and disruption was unlikely to increase beyond what could currently be generated at the property.

The officers granted planning permission, subject to several conditions including that the three off-street parking spaces on the submitted proposals should be retained.