SITES earmarked for up to 2,240 new homes across Monmouthshire have been revealed as part of the next step in producing the county’s future planning blueprint. 

Four sites in three towns have been identified as the council’s preferred locations for where new housing should be concentrated in the plans that have now been endorsed by the full council. 

Members of the public will get the opportunity to comment on the plans over the next eight weeks as the council works on a draft version of the document known as the Replacement Local Development Plan (LDP) which sets out how land in the county, other than that in the Brecon Beacons National Park, should be used up to 2033. 

Included in the document, that was given the backing of the full council at its December 1 meeting, are its preferred strategic site allocations for new housing which are at Abergavenny, Chepstow and Caldicot. The council hasn’t been able to include sites in Monmouth due to a block on new developments to protect the river Wye from phosphate pollution. 

A total of 1,570 new homes could be built on the four sites during the next 11 years, the period which the plan covers. They would amount to around a third of the upper estimate of 2,2000 new homes to be built through to 2033. The council wants half of those to be affordable with 68 per cent available for social rent. 

The Abergavenny site is an existing agricultural field, between the A465 and Skirrid Fach, in the Gobion Fawr ward, where there could be 635 new homes including 500 during the life of the plan. 

In Chepstow 145 houses are earmarked for agricultural land at Bayfield, adjoining the A48 and next to St Lawrence Lane during the plan period. The site is close to the A48 Highbeech roundabout where there are longstanding complaints about congestion. 

The largest preferred sites are in what the council has dubbed Caldicot East and includes the redevelopment of the David Broome Equestrian Event Centre named after the Olympic showjumping medalist. 

The other site is agricultural land at Bradbury Farm, south of Crick and east of the M48 and between the A48 and the B425. Up to 1,460 homes could be built over the two sites including 925 during the period of the plan. 

Council deputy leader Paul Griffiths, who has responsibility for the plan, asked councillors to endorse the preferred strategy, agree it can go out for consultation and the timetable ahead of submitting it to the Welsh Government for approval in a year’s time. 

He said: “I’m not asking you to agree all the document but as a strategy for consultation. This is not the last word it will change and change again.” 

Six Conservative councillors, including five representing seats in the Chepstow and south east Monmouthshire area, spoke against the plan. Tory leader Councillor Richard John said the 18 member group wouldn’t be voting against but said his colleagues were “absolutely right to raise concerns”. 

St Kingsmark Conservative Cllr Christopher Edwards said: “Chepstow can’t cope with anymore housing developments unless something is done on infrastructure.” 

He said the town’s roads and schools will struggle to accommodate new housing and asked: “Are we now telling potential homeowners don’t own a car and don’t procreate?” 

Lisa Dymock, Conservative councillor for Portskewett, said new housing should be in Caldicot, which she said has a “declining town centre”, rather than the Bradbury Farm site. 

Shirenewton member Louise Brown said the council’s place scrutiny committee, in September, had written to the Forest of Dean Council objecting to its plans for more than 7,000 new homes, including 2,460 in Lydney, 11 miles from Chepstow, and 600 in Beachley on the opposite bank of the Wye, unless transport improvements including a bypass were in place. 

The Conservative said: “We said we wouldn’t support the Forest of Dean’s plan unless infrastructure was in place but we are being asked to support a strategy that doesn’t have this, there is no point saying we will do it later we have to get it in place first.” 

She also said the council was concentrating the majority of new housing in a small area of the county: “There is only 5.8 miles between Caldicot and Chepstow and the majority of new housing will be in this particular area.”

Cabinet member for the environment Catrin Maby said the Labour administration is “pushing as hard as we can for infrastructure improvements” but warned rejecting the LDP process would be at the cost of new housing. 

She said: “The reality of rejecting this approach is we will have no new housing for quite a considerable length of time.” 

Llanfoist and Govilon member Ben Callard said he failed to understand the Conservative objections as the previous Tory administration had proposed 3,660 new homes in the plan it consulted on in summer 2021, but which was rejected by the Welsh Government forcing the council to start over again. 

The Labour councillor said: “The Conservatives had proposed three times this level of development, but this is not acceptable?” 

Labour’s Armand Watts, who represents Bulwark and Thornwell in Chepstow, said endorsing the strategy would allow a debate with the public on infrastructure and locations to begin. 

Green Party councillor Ian Chandler said he wanted a clearer timetable on when supporting information will be published. The Llantilio Crossenny member said: “We get assurances there is a transport plan but we’ve not seen it.” 

Deputy leader Cllr Griffiths, who represents Chepstow Castle and Larkfield, said he also wanted members to help explain to the public that the candidate sites, for housing and employment, across the county and listed in the document are those put forward for consideration and doesn’t mean they are certain to be developed. 

As well as the potential 1,660 to 2,220 new homes the LDP also includes 1,579 homes built since 2018, a further 1,263 homes with planning permission that are realistically expected to be built and 900 homes on small sites and windfall locations to give a total of more than 5,900 new homes over the period 2018 to 2033. 

A consultation on the preferred strategy for the replacement LDP as well as all the candidate sites, and associated planning policies, will begin this month and run for eight weeks. 

The draft plan will be published in the spring when there will be a further six week statutory consultation period.