A DECISION to refuse a chiropractic clinic permission to open in an office block has been overturned after just three months.
Planners refused the request for change of use planning permission in July, as they said it would encourage people to travel by private car to the unit at an out-of-town industrial site and there was no case which justified the loss of office space.
Applicant Charlotte Fox, who runs Fox Chiropractic, submitted a new application to use the same ground floor unit at the modern Lakeside Court building, in Llantarnam on the outskirts of Cwmbran, as a chiropractic clinic employing four full-time staff, which has now been approved.
Council planning chiefs said since making their decision in July the unit has become vacant and the council’s planning policy team also carried out a survey of the office units in the area, while amended documents were also submitted.
Ms Fox who had agreed a long leasehold on the site in September 2025 after it was placed on the market that August, had provided the council with information as part of her first application which showed the recruitment agency which had leased the first floor, but hadn’t used it for more than six years, is due to relocate in December.
Following the refusal of her first application, Ms Fox also provided the council with information on other sites she’d looked at around Cwmbran, including in neighbourhood shopping centres the council said should have been considered, and the reasons why they had been discounted.
Planning officer Mia McAndrew, in her report which approved the new application, stated the review of business uses in the area, and the information submitted by Ms Fox, indicated there is surplus office supply in the area “and the loss of this office space would not be detrimental”.
It was also noted the first floor of the building isn’t subject to the change of use application and would remain available as office space.
Ms McAndrew’s report said the “ground floor and designated parking” were “key reasons” for the unit being the applicant’s preferred location, over alternative sites in the town centre or neighbourhood centres. She also acknowledged Welsh planning policy states planning authorities should be “flexible” over some education, healthcare and community uses.
The planning officer stated: ” Whilst it is considered that a chiropractors could be suitably located in a town centre or edge of centre location, it is accepted that other options on the market have been explored to an extent and the application site has benefits that suit the proposed occupant.”
The report also set out why the area was considered people may still walk to the site, or use public transport, despite the earlier refusal having said it was unlikely.
A condition will only allow the building to be used as a chiropractor clinic or for office use to avoid any incompatible future uses while a management plan, showing how parking spaces will be managed is also required as a condition. The council’s parking guidelines state 10 parking spaces would normally be required but only eight are provided, while the new application has also proposed a cycle stand which wasn’t included in the original application.