A NEW assessment and treatment unit could be built at a Newport psychiatric health hospital.

Asbri Planning Ltd, on behalf of the Aneurin Bevan Health Board (ABHB), has applied for planning permission for a centre at St Cadoc's Hospital, off Lodge Road, Caerleon.

The single storey 1,024 sq metre unit would provide specialist support for people with mental health and learning disabilities via inpatient admission for those who cannot be treated in the community.

Other sites have been considered for the unit and a planning application has been submitted to Monmouthshire council for a centre at Maindiff Court Hospital near Abergavenny.

But a report to Newport City Council’s planning department says Caerleon is the preferred location because of its accessibility and proximity to a larger proportion of Gwent residents.

And, unlike Maindiff Court, the St Cadoc's site is within walking distance of a range of facilities and services, including good transport links.

The proposed site, on land west of the hospital’s Glan Usk Ward, was earmarked for recreational use under the Unitary Development Plan, for the nearby University of Wales, Newport’s Caerleon Campus.

But the report says the need for the assessment and treatment unit outweighs the need to retain the land for playing fields, which are no longer required by the university.

Details about the appearance and layout of the building are not yet known but outline plans suggest it would be arranged around four wings focussed on a central courtyard with gardens.

The report says that the scale, form and design would have no acceptable effect on the character and appearance of the site and the surrounding area and it would be accessible to the local and wider community by a range of sustainable modes of transport.

The application is currently being considered by the city council.