Two sprawling new settlements in southern Monmouthshire suggested

Two sprawling new settlements in southern Monmouthshire have been proposed amid hundreds of suggestions for the new developments in the county.

The candidate sites, dubbed St Brides and Mount Ballan, are included in a shortlist for potential schemes within the local authority’s new local development plan (LDP).

St Brides would be 860 hectares – more than 2,000 acres – in size and would cover land between Rogiet, Magor, Undy, and Penhow to the north.

Mount Ballan would replace more than 783 acres of farmland between Caldicot and Chepstow.

Another new community, the 96-acre Cwm Pentraf west of Raglan, also features in the register of 220 candidate sites compiled by the council.

Landowners, developers and members of the public were invited to submit their ideas for residential, reemployment and recreation developments in towns and rural areas.

But a report says there is no guarantee that any of the sites on the register will be considered for development during the new LDP’s lifetime up to 2033.

The sites submitted at this early stage will undergo ‘high level assessments’ to gauge their compatibility with strategies within the LDP, before a second call for sites is made later this year.

“The next stages in LDP preparations are to consider the vision and objectives for the LDP to seek to address the issues facing Monmouthshire and its communities,” the report says.

“The options will be subject to full public consultation in May/June 2019 and will help shape the preferred strategy for the plan.”

There are 24 sites suggested for Monmouth, including submissions for healthcare services to be established on Dixton Road and Osbaston Road.

In Abergavenny, there are 22 sites including an eco-friendly ‘One Planet’ community in Mardy and a bypass next to Nevill Hall Hospital which would bridge over the River Usk and connect the A465 and Brecon Road.

The 11 sites in Chepstow include a hotel on the Newhouse Roundabout, mixed use developments near Chepstow Racecourse and the resubmission of a site along the A466 Wye Valley link road, which was previously refused planning permission.

A submission has been made for a residential development on the former Dewstow golf course near Caldicot, while one request suggests converting parts of the former Ministry of Defence training centre in Caerwent into a care facility.

The new LDP will replace the existing plan which was scrapped last year – three years earlier than anticipated – having failed to reach homebuilding targets set in 2011.

Cabinet members have agreed to send a local housing market assessment for consideration by the Welsh Government, which revealed that 468 homes would have to be built per year by 2023 to keep up with demand.

A full list of candidate sites can be found here. (https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/planning-policy/candidate-sites/monmouthshire-replacement-ldp-candidate-sites-register-february-2019)