PLANS to change the existing ground-floor office at 75 Queen Street, Pembroke Dock to a foot clinic have been given the go-ahead.

Mr and Mrs Lloyd, through agent Matthew Hitches Architectural Services, applied to Pembrokeshire County Council for the change of use to the town centre property, along with associated works including the demolition and rebuild of a sub-standard single storey extension.

Pembroke Dock Town Council, which welcomes more services in the town, supported the application.

An officer report recommending approval said the scheme, in the town’s conservation area and on the periphery of the town centre, is flanked to the north by buildings forming part of King Street, to the east by hairdressers, beauty centre and residential and to the west by embroidery, printing services and residential.

It said a 2022 council retail survey said the town had a 19 per cent vacant level for Class A retail units, down from 24 per cent the previous year, but above the average for the county and for Wales, at 17 per cent, based on reported data from the Welsh Retail Consortium.

For the change of commercial class, it said Planning Policy Wales stated “Where economic decline is impacting on a retail and commercial centre, emphasis on retaining A1 uses in premises either in primary or secondary areas, which have been vacant for a period of time, may undermine a centre’s viability and vitality. In such circumstances planning authorities should consider how non-A1 uses may play a greater role to increasing diversity and reducing vacancy levels.”

The change of Milford Haven’s Original Factory Shop to a health and fitness facility is another local example of this principle in action.

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It was not considered that the proposal would impact negatively vitality or viability of the town centre, and county planners conditionally approved the scheme.