PLANS to open a cafe and takeaway in a former beauty salon have been refused as the required extraction pipe would look unsightly.
Gavin Cole planned to open the cafe in the vacant shop at 7-9 Commercial Street in the centre of Pontnewydd, Cwmbran.
Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department said the change of use to cafe and takeaway would be acceptable but rejected the application as the “large” extraction flue “would have a detrimental visual impact on the character and appearance of the property and wider area”.
The proposed flue would have been attached to the back wall of the two-storey property and extended from a first-floor window to just above the roof line.
Planning officer Mia McAndrew said in her report, which refused the application: “Whilst the flue would be located to the rear of the site, it would have a significant scale and would be highly visible due to the open nature of the rear of the site.”
She said the back wall can be seen from a public car park, a private access road and an area of open space next to the public toilets on New Street which she said would all provide “clear views” of the proposed flue.
The upper floor of the property is a residential flat and the change of use planning application covered the ground floor. Additional information was provided about the flue, in response to concerns from the environmental health department, but planners didn’t seek further comment from them as the flue was considered visually unacceptable.
It was hoped the cafe would have employed three staff and would have been open from 9am to 9pm and Ms McAndrew acknowledged it would have encouraged “people to visit the centre and eat in” and boost footfall during the day.