Councillors have approved plans to build 123 new homes on the site of the former council offices in Pontllanfraith.

In total, 83 of the homes on the Chartist Garden Village site will be classed as affordable, and will be managed by housing association Pobl.

Affordable housing is made up of social rented and shared ownership homes.

Councillor Roy Saralis, Chair of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee, said the development was a “long time coming”.

The site is near Sir Harold Finch memorial park, named in honour of the former MP for Bedwellty. Cllr Saralis, who campaigned for Sir Harold Finch, said: “I think Sir Harold Finch would have been delighted about this.”

Sir Harold Finch served the Bedwellty constituency between 1950 and 1970.

Cllr Adrian Hussey said: “It would be nice if Sir Harold Finch was named in the development.”

The plans include a mixture of two, three and four bed houses, and one and two bed flats.

Neil Taylor, Head of Development at Pobl, said: “Our vision is to create a modern garden village with a real sense of place and community, using good design principles and by enhancing the existing green infrastructure.”

Outline planning permission was granted in July 2021. Councillors had previously deferred the planning application because of the potential loss of green space.

Following this, a report to the planning committee confirmed the development would not encroach on either the Local Nature Reserve or Sir Harold Finch Memorial Park.

Cllr John Bevan said: “I think it would be excellent to have more housing in the county borough.”