A FORMER Job Centre in Tredegar has proposed plans to convert it to a bed and breakfast.

The former job centre at Coronation Street might become an 11-room bed and breakfast with parking and a decking area.

Two letters of objection have been received, one of which claims to have been written on behalf of 12 businesses in the area.

The objection letter to the council states: "With a number of hotels in the nearby street, some within a few hundred feet of the proposed development, we fail to see how the need for yet another guesthouse type establishment is warranted, especially one in a less desirable location."

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Objections relate to numerous reasons from vehicle congestion reducing the availability for parking for firefighters to the questioning of the need for another bed and breakfast.

Cllr Hayden Trollope has asked for the plan to be reconsidered. The member said the reason relates to issues such as the impact on the town centre, the design not being suitable for conversation to the design of the building not keeping with intended use.

Cllr Steve Thomas, a Tredegar ward member said: "I am asking the committee to turn down this proposal because it is clear that that the 'bed and breakfast' approval route is turning into a loophole for developers to create other establishments that sometimes have a detrimental impact on adjoining businesses and local residents as is the case in recent months in Tredegar Town Centre.

He said: "at the very least developers should be forced to apply for the relevant planning for the type of premises that they intend to deliver so that the correct discussions and checks and balances can be held before permission is granted."

The committee agreed to defer the report for a month to allow further investigations into the application.

The planning permission will be granted following some development conditions.