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Plans for 169 new homes in Nelson have moved a step closer after winning the support of Caerphilly councillors.

More than half of the development will be classed as affordable housing if the project, by United Welsh housing association, goes ahead.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee agreed, on Wednesday November 13, to support the application for the development on the Ty Du site, off the A472 Mafon Road.

The Welsh Government may end up having the final say on the project however, because it is classed as a “major” residential development.

There is also the chance the development may not go ahead unless the Caerphilly-based United Welsh can secure grant funding for the 99 affordable homes it wants to build on the site as part of the proposal.

Committee members were told it was “unlikely to go ahead” without money from the government’s social housing grant.

United Welsh development manager Chris Boardman added the “deadline for Welsh Government grant funding is very tight” and urged the committee to vote in favour of the application.

He said the plans for affordable homes would include later living and supported living accommodation, and would mean a “significant contribution” towards tackling waiting lists for homes locally.

Mr Boardman also said the timber frames for the homes will be built by a firm in the Caerphilly area.

Planning officer Helen Winsall told the committee that her department recommended planning permission be granted, but she acknowledged the land was outside the council’s local development plan – essentially its blueprint for what can be built across the county borough and where.

However, she pointed out the site had previously been earmarked for mixed use commercial and residential development.

Committee members Nigel Dix, Shane Williams and John Taylor all expressed reluctance to approve greenfield developments generally, but Cllr Taylor said he and colleagues “have to look at the history of the site” and accept it had been proposed for housing previously.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for the applicant of housing to come along for this site,” he added.

There were also some concerns among committee members around the felling of a “significant amount” of trees to make way for the proposed homes.

Ms Winsall said “quite a substantial number are proposed to be kept”, and those lost will be replaced by a “broadleaf planting scheme [which] is considered to lead to an enhancement in green infrastructure”.

The planning committee’s members voted 11-0 in favour of granting planning permission, with two abstentions.