CONSTRUCTION work has begun on a new housing development at the site of a former council office in Pontllanfraith.

Work on the Chartist Garden Village housing development is expected to be completed in summer 2024, with the project set to create more than six apprenticeship placements and 128 weeks of work experience for local people.

Detailed plans for the 123-home development were approved in November 2021 by the council’s planning committee.

The plans include a mixture of two, three and four bedroom houses, and one and two bedroom flats.

Eighty-three of the homes are classed as affordable – meaning they are social rented and shared ownership homes – these will be run by housing association Pobl.  The remaining 40 will be open market.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s leader, Cllr Philippa Marsden, visited the site, alongside developers Lovell and partners Pobl, to mark the start of construction.

James Duffett, regional managing director at Lovell, said: “We are committed to providing the people of Pontllanfraith with a community and development that promotes happiness, health and wellbeing, as well as homes that are full of character.”

The houses will be built on the site of the former council offices and on green space.

However, the development’s location has caused controversy, with the family of former Bedwellty MP Sir Harold Finch expressing concerns.

The family, who have campaigned against the development for a number of years, say the development encroaches onto the Sir Harold Finch Memorial Park.

Outline planning permission was granted by the council in July 2021, having previously been deferred because of the potential loss of green space.

Jaqueline Jones, who is the granddaughter of the former MP, described the council’s decision to grant planning permission as “disrespectful”.

Mrs Jones also said the family were not objecting to the development as a whole, just the part that would be built on green space.

The green space is home to a World War Two memorial and the memorial plaque of Sir Harold Finch, who served in parliament between 1950 and 1970.

While the war memorial will remain in its current place, the Sir Harold Finch memorial plaque will be moved.

Cllr Roy Saralis, chair of the planning committee and someone who had previously campaigned for Sir Harold Finch, said where the plaque is currently placed is not its original location – it had previously been moved to avoid vandalism and damage.

In a planning committee meeting held on November 3, Cllr Adrian Hussey, who represents Newbridge, recommended the development be named after Sir Harold Finch.

This suggestion was not supported by the family.