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A Costa drive-thru could be coming to Pontymister after councillors gave their seal of approval to the scheme.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee previously rejected an application to open a coffee shop and drive-thru in Pontymister Industrial Estate, but have now accepted a revised bid.

Their decision paves the way for the new development on land just off the A467.

Previous concerns around the impact on Risca town centre, tree loss and flood risk were all addressed in the resubmission to the council’s satisfaction, planning officer Anthony Pyne told the committee, on Wednesday November 13.

Some seven trees will be felled to make way for the development, but the applicant has agreed to replace them with 14 new trees, as well as a further seven off site, he added.

Mr Pyne also said environment agency Natural Resources Wales had offered no objections to the new plans despite retaining “some concerns” about flooding.

During a consultation period, the reapplication drew ten objections, which also focused on the impact on the town centre and on highway safety.

Risca Town Council claimed a drive-thru coffee shop would “go against council plans to regenerate the town centre”, according to a planning report.

Mr Pyne said officers had assessed the impact of the development and “on balance that’s considered acceptable”.

Committee member Kristian Woodland questioned whether the proposed location of the drive-thru was suitable.

“It can be quite a difficult junction to get out of… and that area does get quite congested in general,” Cllr Woodland said.

Highways officer Martyn Tanner said a transport assessment had been carried out, and Mr Pyne said the highways department had offered no objections to the application.

The committee voted 11-1 in favour of the proposals, with one abstention.