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Demolition work on Caerphilly’s former indoor market begins this week, to make way for dozens of new homes.

Following an estimated 20 weeks of demolition works, 73 apartments are set to be built on Pentrebane Street.

They will be managed by Linc Cymru and will comprise a mix of open market sale, private rent and social housing rental properties.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Jamie Pritchard, believes the new development is “much-needed” and will “go some way towards injecting some vibrancy into the area”.

But Plaid Cymru group leader, Cllr Lindsay Whittle, has raised concerns about the project, and wants assurances “local people” will be offered social homes at the complex.

In response, Caerphilly Council said future occupiers will be selected in line with established policies.

“For those properties on site that are allocated for social housing, then Linc will look to offer them to those who are on Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Common Housing Register,” a council spokesperson explained.

“These allocations will be made in accordance with the council’s Common Allocations Policy which outlines the criteria for local connection consideration.”

Under that policy, the council assesses each applicant and places them into one of five bands, based on their housing need.

Within each band, applicants are ordered based on the date they joined the waiting list, and also their “local connection”.

“People with a proven local connection will be afforded a greater level of priority over people without a local connection within their respective band, irrespective of time and date order,” the council states in its policy.

“Local connection” includes being “clearly settled in the area” in six months of the past year, or for three of the past five years.

It may also include working in the county borough, having family already living here, or having “special circumstances” such as requiring Caerphilly-based medical treatment.

Serving or recent armed forces members, or their bereaved partners, who lived previously in the county borough also qualify as having a “local connection”, under the council policy.

Cllr Whittle reiterated his concerns at a recent scrutiny committee meeting, but did welcome the prospect of new homes for the town.

However, he has questioned the proposed appearance of the new complex, and called for an “innovative” design “in keeping with an old market town”.

“I’ve had so many people ask me if the council will be building a simple office-type block that would be designed by a child playing with Lego,” said Cllr Whittle. “I am still concerned there is no parking for these properties, and worried about refuse and recycling collections from what will be the largest block of flats ever built in the county.”

Cllr Pritchard defended the project, which he said would replace a “shoddy” building with a “vibrant mix of social, rental and sale housing, plus exciting new commercial spaces”.

He added: “You can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs, so there will be disruption and road closures. But what is not an option is the status quo. As the cabinet member for regeneration, I’ve been working very hard to bring investment to town centres – the top of town being an area where there has to be significant change.

“The funding, as with the other projects contained within Caerphilly 2035, has been significantly backed by the Welsh Government, meaning the finance from the local authority is minimal.”