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Legal action is being taken by housebuilder Persimmon after it was denied permission to build 300 homes on green space.

The original application for Grove Park, near Cefn Fforest was recommended for approval by Caerphilly Council planners, but in October 2018 councillors rejected the proposal following strong local opposition.

This prompted Persimmon to lodge an appeal. Several decision deadlines were missed by the Welsh Government, but Minister for Housing and Local Government Julie James MS finally rejected the plans in October this year.

The Planning Inspectorate report had recommended for the appeal to go ahead, but the housing minister disagreed.

Mrs James pointed out that there was a nearby brownfield site in Aberbargoed earmarked for housing in the council’s Local Development Plan that had yet to be built on.

Persimmon, in their legal filing to the High Court, is arguing that the site is undeliverable and that the Planning Inspectorate report highlighted this.

It wants a judicial review into the decision for it to be quashed. A Welsh Government spokesperson said it does not comment on potential legal action against it.

Blackwood’s independent councillors Kevin Etheridge, Nigel Dix and Councillor Andrew Farina-Childs have all been opposed to the housing development.

Cllr Farina-Childs said he was concerned at the potential legal cost to the Welsh taxpayer and said: “I’m shocked it’s going to the High Court and they are taking on the Welsh Government.”

Cllr Etheridge said he would be attending the hearings in support of residents when they happen and Clr Dix added: “Let’s hope this is chucked out by the court.”

The controversial plans had included a range of two, three and four-bedroom houses, open spaces and a new access road built from Heol Pit-y-Cieliogod and Beaumaris Way.

A two-day planning appeal hearing was held in October last year, but a change in planning policy was blamed by Welsh Government for the 12 months it took to make a decision.

What was the change in planning policy?

The plans for 300 homes were for an area outside a designated development boundary in the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP).

Under a policy called TAN 1, such plans would have favoured developers.

As it stood, the policy meant local authorities in Wales had to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.

As Caerphilly County Borough Council does not have this, planning applications for housing developments rejected by the local authority were likely to get the go-ahead on appeal to the Welsh Government. This policy was suspended in May 2018 and scrapped altogether in March this year.

This has meant statements for the Grove Park appeal had to be resubmitted and the appeal considered afresh.

The Planning Inspectorate report had recommended for the appeal to go ahead, but the housing minister disagreed.

In a letter outlining her decision, minister Julie James MS wrote: “I am committed to a plan-led system in Wales and I consider the primacy of the adopted LDP is key to providing certainty for communities and developers, regarding the type and scale of development that will be permitted in local authority areas throughout Wales.

“Whilst I accept the proposed development would provide some benefits, particularly the provision of affordable housing, I am not satisfied these benefits outweigh the identified conflict with LDP policies, which have been designed by the local planning authority in order to control housing development outside defined settlement policy boundaries.”