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Caerphilly Senedd Member Lindsay Whittle has called on developers to withdraw plans to develop housing on Nant y Calch Farm, Caerphilly.

Harmoni Homes – a brand of housing association United Welsh – wants to build a mix of one-bed flats, two-bed terraces and three detached four-bed houses, all for social rent.

The 1.6-hectare site, off Warren Drive, would also include a new access road, landscaped open space and drainage works, according to documents published by consultants Geraint John Planning Ltd.

But the Plaid Cymru MS says the land is the wrong site and new homes schemes should be first developed on brownfield sites.

“As a former housing manager I spent my life putting people in homes but they were  homes in the right place. This greenfield site in an urban part of Caerphilly is not the right location.

“Building a total of 44 homes will mean a lot more traffic leaving Warren Drive onto the fast Caerphilly Mountain Road that takes commuters into and out of Cardiff and there is also the development’s impact on services like that of  GPs.

“This land is a wonderful place to come where people can relax, walk the dog and enjoy nature. I can remember coming here as a schoolboy when I was a pupil at the nearby school. We used to do our cross country runs in this area.

“This is a totally wrong site for new housing. This tiny  part of Caerphilly has already had more than its fair share of new housing. I say to the developers, please go somewhere else, particularly as we know there are brownfield sites available in this town. We must save our greenfield sites from destruction.”

The plans have seen more than 620 letters of objection from residents concerned over the loss of wildlife and habitat.

The Nant y Calch Conservation Group said there are three main areas of objection from residents. These are the development’s impact on wildlife and habitat; the loss of a greenfield site over more suitable brownfield locations; and its impact on road safety, because access to the site is limited.

The group, which has recently been constituted, say the land is one of Caerphilly’s most important wildlife sites and if development went ahead, would increase the risk of local flooding.

Campaigners from Caerphilly Woodland Trust and Caerphilly Eco Hub have also identified at least nine of the UK’s 19 bat species roosting at the farm – including the rare greater horseshoe bat and barbastelle.

Access to the development, if built, would be along the narrow roads of Princes Avenue and Warren Drive, the latter opening onto the busy junction on Mountain Road, often the scene of traffic collisions.

The campaign group has also pointed to road traffic statistics which state Caerphilly County Borough has the fifth highest number of serious road traffic injuries in Wales.

Local ward councillors Colin Elsbury and Stephen Kent are also opposed to the scheme.

A planning application is now expected to be submitted by Harmoni Homes following its pre-application consultation – which saw 620 letters of objection.

A key aspect of the scheme is the building of an access road, which, campaigners say, would open the site of the former Ness Tar Plant for development – increasing traffic further.

The area, next to Nant y Calch, is highlighted as a potential area for redevelopment in the council’s Caerphilly 2035 regeneration plans.

Tar production stopped at the plant in 1985 after nearly 50 years, and since the mid-1990s, the land has been left empty. The site has long been earmarked for development and regularly appears in council development plans.

There are fears that any work on the area could result in contaminated and toxic materials from the old tar plant being disturbed.