Call to limit number of homes built in Monmouthshire met with mixed views

A call to limit the number of homes built in Monmouthshire by Welsh Government planners has been met with mixed views.

Monmouthshire County Council’s plans to build 7,605 homes in its new Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP), which runs until 2033, have been met with an objection from the Welsh Government’s chief planner, Neil Hemington, who has proposed a maximum growth of 4,275 homes.

The objection says Monmouthshire’s growth plan “undermines the role of Cardiff, Newport and the Valleys as the main focus for growth and investment in the South East region”.

A special council meeting was held on Tuesday to consider the implications of the objection and how the local authority should proceed with its development plan.

John Keegan, chief executive of Monmouthshire Housing Association, said there are 3,500 households on its waiting list.

Mr Keegan said there is “a high demand” for housing across the county, and that staff are ‘inundated’ by people ringing up every day “begging for accommodation”.

“These are human beings from Monmouthshire with no chance and no hope of getting homes where they are from, in the communities they are from,” he said.

“Monmouthshire is made by the people from Monmouthshire, not the houses that are built.

“But if the people from Monmouthshire cannot stay there then the community suffers.”

David James, rural housing enabler for Monmouthshire, said the council’s proposed development plan “should be seen as an opportunity to address the affordable housing crisis”.

Gareth Williams, from Lichfields planning and development consultancy, said the Welsh Government’s proposed growth figures would be “detrimental to the region’s growth prospects”.

“It’s overly simplistic to assume growth denied in Monmouthshire will somehow emerge elsewhere in South East Wales,” he said.

But David Haswell, of Save our Unique Countryside (SOUL), said the council’s plan “overconcentrates on the issue of housing growth”.

Cllr Jo Watkins, the council’s Liberal Democrat group leader, called for a compromise to be reached, and said the council should not continue to pursue “such a high level of growth”.

Independent councillor Frances Taylor asked if more housing schemes to specifically provide affordable housing could be included in the RLDP.

Cllr Bob Greenland, deputy leader of the council, said the proposed growth level put forward in the Welsh Government letter would not allow for any new housing allocations in the next 12 years.

“That’s unbelievable, it cannot be right for any county,” he said.

“But for us with the number of people waiting for houses it would be criminal.”

Cllr Greenland called for talks to be held with Welsh Government ministers and officials to find a way forward on the issue.

A further report on options for the council going forward will go before a future council meeting.