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Plans for a large housing development on fields in Cefn Fforest could finally be decided after years of uncertainty.

Housing developer Persimmon hopes to build up to 300 homes on land between Heol y Cefn and Beaumaris Way, and has described the site as a “logical extension” of the existing neighbourhood “which will benefit Blackwood and the wider county”.

But the application drew local opposition, and in 2018 members of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee rejected the plans because the site was outside the local authority’s identified settlement boundary.

The Welsh Government’s then-housing minister Julie James rejected the developer’s appeal in 2020, but the government eventually backed down from an ensuing legal tussle – leaving a final decision on the development in ministers’ hands once again.

Currently, the government is inviting a new round of representations from interested parties, who are understood to include the applicant, some local residents, the council, and environment agency Natural Resources Wales.

A letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service indicates reopening an inquiry into the proposals is not necessary, and any new representations must be limited to comments on changes to the nearby Aberbargoed Grasslands area of special conservation since 2022.

Consultees may also give their views on whether the proposed development would impact on that conservation area.

The closing date for submissions is February 23, after which ministers will review the case and issue a decision on the proposed development.

Ahead of those deliberations, Blackwood ward councillors Nigel Dix and Kevin Etheridge said they remained opposed to the project.

Cllr Dix said people had “waited nearly four years for this to be decided, and in that time nothing has changed”.

He urged the government to instead consider a brownfield site in Bargoed “where they can build over 400 houses”.

“I hope they make the right decision and reject it,” he added.

Cllr Etheridge said the long wait for a decision had caused “anxiety and stress” for nearby residents, adding he was concerned some potential neighbours were not fully aware of the current consultation.

He said he didn’t want “to see our green fields turned into an urban sprawl”.

Persimmon has said previously the site is “well-situated” and near local services, and would be built in a “sensitive, sympathetic layout” with “soft green edges”.

The proposed development would be a mixture of two-, three- and four-bedroom houses, including 25% affordable homes, and “significant green infrastructure” including public open space.

The developer has also argued the new homes could make “an immediate and valuable contribution to the housing land supply shortfall” in the county borough.