Green light for 42 affordable homes on edge of city development

A 42-home development next to Newport’s Mon Bank estate can go ahead, city councillors have decided.

Monmouthshire Housing Association has been given the green light to build the homes on vacant land to the northeast of the existing development.

All of the homes will be classed as affordable housing.

The application had drawn objections from nearby residents who were concerned about the loss of open space, a lack of parking, and the future tenure of the proposed homes.

But members of the council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve planning permission, in line with officers’ recommendations.

Planning officer Adam Foote told the committee the land could be considered for residential development following unsuccessful attempts to market it for employment purposes.

A previous attempt to secure an Aldi supermarket for part of the site was refused in 2021.

Addressing neighbour concerns, Mr Foote said the land was classed as a brownfield site and warned against making “assumptions… regarding the character of a person or people that live in affordable housing”.

He said the “principle of the development is acceptable”, adding its “highly-sustainable” location would “justify” a shortfall in parking spaces on the completed site.

Stow Hill ward councillor Kate Thomas, speaking at the meeting, said residents had been “concerned” about the future of the site over its future occupants, but she accepted the committee could not “specify” who would live in the homes.

She said the site contained “the most popular walking area in the whole estate”, and was well-used by dog-walkers and children.

Cllr Thomas also questioned the environmental impact of redeveloping land which has “had about 15 years to move on” and develop “post-industrial ecology”.

Councillors went on to vote unanimously in favour of the application, which allows a mixture of houses and flats to be built on the site, spread over two parcels of land between the existing estate and the railway sidings next to Cardiff Road.

In a design statement, planning agent Sam Courtney, the director of LRM Planning Ltd, said redeveloping the site for housing would mean an “efficient reuse of previously developed land in a sustainable location delivering much needed housing – including affordable housing – for the local community”.