Surgery in Gabalfa to turn into café and apartments

Proposals to turn a building in Cardiff occupied by a surgery into a cafe and apartments have been approved.

A change of use planning application to turn the building – currently Whitchurch Road Surgery – in Gabalfa into a ground floor cafe and four residential flats has been given the go ahead by Cardiff Council.

The surgery on Whitchurch Road will be moving to a new site on Sachville Avenue, just off Whitchurch Road and about 50 meters from the existing building. Permission was granted for the new surgery to be built in February 2021 and construction began in October 2021.

The building currently used for the surgery is seen as “outdated and unfit for purpose” in a design and access statement attached to the planning application for the new surgery on Sachville Avenue.

The clinical rooms are spread over three floors with “limited wheelchair access”, it adds. The reception is “small”, the building is “not Equality Act compliant” and it “struggles to maintain patient confidentiality levels”.

The design and access statement continues:

“The building also fails to meet current infection control and Care Quality Commission standards. The new building aims to provide all patient accommodation on the ground floor with a spacious reception and waiting area in accordance with current regulations and guidance.

“Added to this, the staff accommodation will generally be on the first floor, meaning there is a clear and secure line between public and private spaces – something which does not currently exist.”

The cafe at the Whitchurch Road property will be located at the front of the ground floor, whilst the apartments will be located on the rear ground floor and upper floors.