Council defends plans for 146 homes beside congested roundabout

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for nearly 150 new homes, a care home and hotel beside a notorious roundabout have been defended.

The proposed development forms part of a planning blueprint intended to provide 2,000 new homes, with half of them being affordable, and new employment sites across Monmouthshire.

A planning application for 146 homes, a care home and hotel was submitted to Monmouthshire County Council in January this year, though a public consultation on the development on agricultural fields beside the Highbeech roundabout on the western edge of Chepstow hasn’t yet opened.

Monmouthshire County Council had already included the potential mixed use development site in its proposed local development plan that is intended to guide development across the county through to 2033 and which is currently being examined in public hearings before two independent planning inspectors.

They are hearing objections to the plan in online meetings which have this week focused on the strategic sites for new housing identified at Mounton Road, Chepstow as well as sites for nearly 700 homes between Portskewett and Caldicot and sites in Monmouth and Abergavenny.

Monmouthshire County Council defended its selection of the Mounton Road site during the hearing on Wednesday, October 7 including its 2023 decision to list the site in the plan rather than the Bayfield site, further to the north of Chepstow, that featured in the 2022 version of the draft plan.

Council director Craig O’Connor said Transport for Wales has carried out a detailed traffic analysis to estimate the impact of the entire development plan.

“The increase in traffic volumes on the Highbeech roundabout the strategic assessment indicated is a very modest increase of between two and to four per cent,” said Mr O’Connor.

Council deputy leader Councillor Paul Griffiths reminded inspector Julie de-Courcey, who described the roundabout as a “known congestion pinch point”, the assessment also included the likely impact of new developments proposed in the plan near Caldicot and at Monmouth.

The hearing was also told while it is acknowledged the Highbeech roundabout is at capacity the strategic assessment is based on the existing road network and hasn’t accounted for planned improvements.

Expansion

Land for any potential expansion of the Highbeech roundabout is also safeguarded while Mr O’Connor said the council considers concentrating the proposed residential and commercial developments on the one site an “efficient use of land” even at the loss of fields judged as best and most versatile agricultural land.

“This site provides more and can deliver more of the objectives of the plan and is an efficient use of land,” said Mr O’Connor: “We could have allocated two sites to deliver a hotel and care home and housing on another site.”

He said the council had justified the proposed use of the best quality agricultural land due to a lack of brownfield, or previously developed land, in Monmouthshire and no sites in Chepstow and an “overriding” need for affordable housing.

Mr O’Connor also said the council had identified a need for care provision for its aging population and overnight accommodation to support the tourism industry.

“A key thing is providing a hotel, overnight accommodation close to Chepstow Racecourse,” he said while it will also provide walkable routes to the town centre.

Objector George Ashworth said the proposed residential development would lead to the greatest loss of the best value agricultural land and suggested the council should have split the development between two sites.

He said: “It could have just allocated the site for the hotel which in my view would be far less harmful to tourism loss coming into the county.”

Open views

Mr Ashworth said he was concerned at the loss of open views when approaching Chepstow and said: “Having agricultural land around would probably be preferrable from a hotel view than housing around it. It’s a win win.”

Shirenewton Conservative councillor Louise Brown said there had been more than 300 objections to the Mounton Road site “more than any other in the deposit plan” and said there are no commitments or funding in place for improvements to public transport, or the M48 as suggested by the council, to ease congestion in the area.

The inspectors are expected to deliver their verdict on whether the proposed local development plan is “sound” and able to be adopted as the council’s officially planning policy by the end of March.

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