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The Welsh Government wants an “innovative” residential development in Nelson to serve as a “model” for environmentally-friendly house-building.

A planned 169 homes on the Ty Du site will “maximise affordable housing” and promote zero-carbon, energy efficient development.

An application lodged with Caerphilly County Borough Council includes a community woodland park and “meaningful connections” to nearby facilities.

Architects at Powell Dobson, in a planning statement, said their designs for Ty Du “will aim to ensure the homes are fit for modern day standards, with the ability to keep up with change”. 

“Consideration will be given to the flexibility of spaces, ensuring families have comfortable spaces to both live and work, especially in a post-Covid world,” the architects added.

Plans show a mixture of roads, with some homes in terraces and “tree-lined avenues”, and others in private drives.

Terraced homes will have off-street parking “to reduce [the] impact of cars”, and the development – if planning permission is granted – will be reached by a new access road from the A472 Mafon Road.

Nearly 60% of the proposal (99 homes) will be classed as affordable homes, with the remainder sold on the market.

Ty Du will be a mixture of one bedroom apartments and two-, three- and four-bedroom houses; as well as accommodation for older people.

With building materials including slate and timber, the development’s colour scheme will be red, grey and brown, in a “palette that complements the wider area”.

Sustainability will be a priority, planning documents show. Electric vehicle charging points will be fitted, and homes will be energy efficient.

A planning statement by Asbri Planning, in support of the development, notes Ty Du is “within a residential, sustainable and accessible location” and close to local services.

The majority of the mostly greenfield site is owned by the Welsh Government and has been set aside for employment use in Caerphilly council’s own development plan, but the area was previously the subject of a successful application for planning permission for homes in 2017.

Asbri said the development would “result in positive social impacts through the provision of additional housing in the county” and “create positive economic impacts during the construction period, providing local employment opportunities and benefits to the local supply chain”.

If approved, the Ty Du site will be developed by Harmoni Homes, a subsidiary of Caerphilly-based United Welsh.

The application can be viewed on the Caerphilly County Borough Council website under reference 23/0508/FULL.