High street shoe shop could be replaced by bar

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A local Welsh brewery could replace the former Shoezone shop in Blackwood.

Rhymney Brewery has submitted a planning application to Caerphilly County Borough Council to change the former shoe shop into a bar and shop.

The Blaenavon-based brewery currently has 12 shops/bars across the south Wales valleys. If planning permission is granted, the 13th will be at 161 High Street.

The family business is owned by three generations of the Evans family, Steve, 67, his son Marc, 40, and his grandson Lewys, 26.

Steve Evans said: “We want to bring Welsh real ale to Blackwood. At the moment there’s no Welsh beer available on the high street and 83% of all the beers consumed in Wales aren’t made in Wales. We are seeking to address this.”

The plans, submitted by Roger Evans Surveying on behalf of the brewery,  show a seating area, a bar, and a beer cellar.

Rhymney Brewery has been running since 1839, but was closed in 1978. Then in 2004, Steve and his family decided to resurrect the business and have been running it since.

Steve said: “All our beers are natural with no chemicals and we currently have 106 employees.

“We have seen an opportunity, a gap in the market, and we are filling that niche. Local beers means local choice.”

A decision on the change of use application is expected to be delegated to the council’s planning officers and made by July 7. The full plans can be viewed on the council’s planning portal.