CONTENTIOUS plans to build 130 homes near to a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) on the edge of Caldicot are set for the green light.

A reserved matters application for the development on fields off the town's Church Road is set to be decided by Monmouthshire council’s planning committee next week.

Objections from 44 residents have been lodged in response to the latest phase of the scheme, which will see homes built on a 22-acre site made up of four fields.

The site is close to the Nedern Brook Wetland which is designated as a SSSI, and it is also located outside of Caldicot’s development boundary and the council’s Local Development Plan.

But the scheme has been deemed acceptable by Welsh ministers, while Monmouthshire councillors have already approved an outline planning application.

Proposals include 45 affordable homes spread across the site, equating to 35 per cent of the development.

These include 20 one-bedroom flats, three two-bedroom bungalows, with the remainder two-, three- and four-bedroom houses.

Eighty-five open market homes are proposed, made up of 10 two-bedroom, 22 three-bedroom and 53 four-bedroom houses.

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The development would also include a woodland and a 10-acre community park with children’s play provision and a trim trail.

More than half of the site will be kept as green space for the public, aiming to encourage residents to take part in outdoor activities.

Parking will be mainly to the front and side of the properties, and there will also be some parking courts, with 259 spaces in total.

The main access into the site will be off Heol Sirhowy, with a second access serving seven properties off Clos Ystwyth.

Objectors have raised a range of concerns, including “over-development” of the site, concerns over the impact on ecology, and that the site is unallocated.

But planners say the number of houses has already been established at outline stage.

The promotion of walking and cycling in the plans has also been praised, with the site said to offer a sustainable location with walking routes to Caldicot town centre.

Recommending approval, a planning report adds: “The proposal will create a development that provides a place where its new residents would enjoy living and its sustainable features and linkages will allow them to access all day-to-day facilities without having to use the private motor car.”

Monmouthshire council’s planning committee will consider the plans at a meeting next Tuesday, March 3.