A DEVELOPER has won a battle to open a new takeaway in a Newport neighbourhood after a planning inspector overturned a council decision.

AJ Planning took an appeal to the national planning inspectorate when council planners threw out a bid to open a hot food outlet in part of the Londis shop in Alway.

Councillors rejected the plan in April 2022 because the police and a local representative argued a new takeaway could add to anti-social behaviour problems in the area.

Ward councillor Deb Harvey told colleagues at the time that anti-social behaviour in the vicinity of the Alway shops was "awful", and described scenarios in which young people had waited in bushes to attack others.

She also said at the time that children had been reported throwing rocks at cars on the estate, which had led to taxis refusing to go to the area.

"I am not painting a good picture of Alway, but I am painting an accurate picture of Alway shops," Cllr Harvey told planners last year.

Newport council went on to reject the plan, but the applicant took an appeal to the Welsh Government, and an inspector ruled this week the takeaway could open after all.

AJ Planning, on behalf of the applicant, said it was "delighted" with the inspector's decision to grant planning permission "to change part of the premises to deliver a hot food outlet with indoor seating area".

The takeaway will not affect the current retail space at the shop. 

In his findings, the inspector acknowledged there were existing problems in the area but said there was no evidence the proposed takeaway would make things worse.

"While the evidence is clear that anti-social behaviour is an issue in the surrounding area, the reason for refusal, and indeed the interested party representations and petition raising such concerns, are not supported by any objective or cogent evidence that demonstrates that the proposed use would exacerbate such issues," he said.

The inspector also noted Gwent Police's concerns about anti-social behaviour at the site, which is a few metres away from Alway Police Station, but said the force's argument "falls short of demonstrating why the proposed use would unacceptably exacerbate such behaviours".

On behalf of the applicant, Andrew Ayles, director of AJ Planning in Newport, said: "This decision is very much welcomed in allowing an investment in the long-established family business and representing an enhancement in the community service facilities on offer within the local centre."