Plans to open a café in the heart of Aberystwyth have been refused over flooding concerns.

A change of use for part of the ground floor of the former TJ Davies and Sons Ltd store on 11-13 North Parade sought to turn part of the building into a 20 cover café and takeaway.

While council officers said in a report that the change of use plan is acceptable as it is “not considered to leave an under provision of shops within the area”, Natural Resources Wales raised concern over a lack of a flooding plan in the application, despite the building being in the heart of Aberystwyth town centre.

The proposed development lies within Flood Zones 2 and 3 as identified by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), but “no Flood Consequences Assessment was submitted to demonstrate the consequence of flooding can be managed to an acceptable degree,” planning documents said.

NRW told county council planners: “We have concerns with the application as submitted because inadequate information has been provided in support of the proposal.

“To overcome these concerns, you should seek further information from the applicant regarding flood risk.

“If this information is not provided, we would object to this planning application.”

The plans were “strongly” supported by Aberystwyth Town Council.

The plans – which included no alteration to the front of the building which lies in the conservation area – were acceptable for highways and ecology departments.

Council planners said that scheme was acceptable saying that “given the application site is within the primary shopping centre of Aberystwyth where a large number of local shops and national high street chains operate the loss of one retail unit is not considered to leave an under provision of shops within the area.”

However, the concerns of NRW led planning officers to reject the application under delegated powers.