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Plans for a new food van near a Caerphilly beauty spot have won council approval.

Natural Resources Wales applied for planning permission to allow the new venture at its Coed Parc-y-Van car park on Van Road, where it manages a forestry as part of the Welsh Government’s woodland estate.

It intends to market the site, with the intention of attracting a local business to operate the venture.

Caerphilly County Borough Council agreed to grant planning permission for an initial five years, so any impacts on the area could be assessed.

A planning report shows the council received four objections during a recent consultation period.

These focused on concerns around the impact on existing businesses, the effect on nature and the site’s setting, and fears of noise and litter.

In their assessments, the council’s planning officers said the proposed food van would be “incidental” to a nearby biking trail, and said the location within “open countryside” was not unacceptable.

They deemed the application was “not viewed to be visually unacceptable” and would not “give rise to any impacts on green infrastructure” because there was already a car park on the site.

A “small-scale” food and drink van raised “no objections in principle” from the environmental health team, the officers added.

But its use at the site will be limited to daily opening hours from 9am to 5pm, and the van must be removed from the site at other times, the council decided.