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A new Lidl can be built on the site of a former Stagecoach bus depot in Pontllanfraith, councillors have decided.
The discount supermarket chain has proposed the new store for the site off Penmaen Road, where around 40 new jobs could be created when the venture opens.
Members of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the plans, but have urged officers to revisit the road layout for accessing the supermarket further down the line.
Cllr Adrian Hussey said drivers leaving the nearby Penmaen recycling centre risked taking “your life in your hands sometimes, because the speed people go up and down that road is ridiculous”.
Cllr Nigel Dix also questioned the proposals for accessing the new store, and said he wanted to avoid a situation with drivers “gathering” in the car park after hours and “racing up and down the dual carriageways”.
Assistant engineer Lisa Cooper said Lidl’s plans had “catered well for right-hand turns into the site”, which “shouldn’t cause any problems” because a new turning lane had “capacity for six vehicles to queue”.
However, she said the access arrangements were “potentially something we could look at, in minimizing or regulating left or right turns”, when officers were asked to discharge various planning conditions later on.
Senior planning officer Carwyn Powell told the committee members the highways department “can’t assess the application on the basis of it [not being] safe if people drive at 50mph – because they shouldn’t be driving at that speed”.
He added the access was judged to be “adequate” based on “the level of traffic expected here, in comparison to the previous levels of traffic for the bus depot”.
Cllr Dix told the meeting he was “pleased to see this site coming to fruition”.
“There have been a lot of rumours and talk about it happening,” he said, adding the wider Blackwood area was “attracting more and more stores, which is good for everybody, good for jobs and good for bringing people into the town”.