A RESIDENTIAL building in Newcastle Emlyn will now be able to turn into a private health clinic after planning applications were approved by the council.

Carmarthenshire County Council approved plans for the conversion of the residential building at Meadow View on Station Road, Newcastle Emlyn, by Drs Beth Williams and Rhodri Howells of Iechyd Teifi Health.

The plans will now the see the 960 square metre single-storey bungalow turned into a private health clinic, with the application stating there would be a loss of 280 square metres of internal floor space from residential to a D1 classification of non-residential institutions.

The clinic would see five new full-time jobs created (three clinically trained staff and two management and administrative employees) and will be open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

It will be called Iechyd Teifi Health Clinic and will complement existing primary care services offered by the NHS in the town and surrounding areas. It will offer GP consultations and general health testing facilities and will expand the number of health related services available to the local community including private medical examinations such as HGV medicals and firearms licencing, specialist weight management services, nail cutting services, acupuncture and aesthetic treatments provided by highly trained professionals.

There is no specific client base being targeted and the clinic will be in a position to offer services to the majority of the local population, independent of which practices they may be registered to.

In a supporting statement it states that there will be adaptations and modifications to the internal layout of the building, but they are minimal and the external adaptations are minimal but would include a customer and staff car park, with around six to eight spaces and a disabled parking space.

The bungalow is a relatively new building, being completed around two years ago but has been unoccupied since its completion.

On August 9, the council approved the plans with conditions that work begins within five years of the application being approved and is done in line with the approved plans, that access gates are set a minimum of five metres back from the highway boundary and open inwards, that the ‘access and turning area required, shall be wholly provided prior to any part of the development being brought into use, and thereafter shall be retained unobstructed in perpetuity. In particular, no part of the access, visibility splays, or turning area, is to be obstructed by non-motorised vehicles.'

The final condition is that the parking spaces and layout shown on the plans herewith approved shall be provided prior to any use of the development herewith approved. Thereafter, they shall be retained, unobstructed, for the purpose of parking only. In particular, no part of the parking and turning facilities is to be obstructed by nonmotorised vehicles.