PLANS for a takeaway and dine-in fish and chip shop in Blackwood have been given the go-ahead.

The fish and chip shop will form part of the ground floor of a two-storey building on the corner of High street and Pentywn road. It will have seating for up to 30 customers at one time.

The site, which was used as a dance studio until June, has been vacant since June.

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Concerns were raised in the application process by the head of public protection over the number of takeaways in the area.

A planning application for the site had previously been submitted to change the building into a pub, but it was rejected because of the high proportion of pubs, restaurants and takeaways in the area.

However, the planning decision report says this is no longer the case.

The report says: “In considering this application, circumstances have now significantly changed whereby those nearby licensed premises referred to by the Inspector are no longer operational or in existence.

“Furthermore, this proposal is for a different type of use that is not likely to generate the concerns that were previously raised i.e. the A3 (takeaway) proposal is seeking to offer customers a seated dining experience along with the traditional customer order ‘walk in’ service.”

The decision for approval includes a condition that the fish and chip shop should not be open to customers between midnight and 7am on Mondays to Saturdays and between 11pm to 7am on Sundays.