100 at Devauden housing plan meeting (From Free Press Series)

100 at Devauden housing plan meeting

3:20pm Thursday 29th July 2010

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AROUND 100 people attended a public meeting in Devauden about potential plans to build new houses in the village over the next decade.

Devauden is one of 26 villages identified as suitable for modest development in preparatory documents for Monmouthshire County Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP).

The LDP, which looks at where housing should be developed across the county between 2011 and 2021, will not be agreed by the council until later this year.

But work on the plan has already started and proposals for between 10 and 15 new houses in each of the 26 villages have been put forward. Around 60 per cent of any new development would be allocated as affordable housing.

At least four potential development sites have been identified in Devauden - two sites to the south of the village and two to the north and west.

MCC’s head of planning and regeneration George Ashworth told residents gathered at Hood Memorial Hall that the preferred site for development would be to the east of the village, although a fifth potential site had also been put forward by a landowner in recent weeks.

Mr Ashworth said Devauden was suitable for development because of its amenities including a shop, pub and church and there had been just four new houses built in the last 10 years.

But residents raised concerns about the early proposals due to the increased amount of traffic any development would bring and a lack of public transport in the area.

Others were worried about the availability of school places if families were to move in and the impact any development would have on the countryside.

Residents also asked whether the council would be willing to consider developing better broadband internet provision for the area and improvements to the gas and electricity supply if the development were to go ahead.

Mr Ashworth said residents views would be given to councillors in September, with a draft plan and consultation in October.

A final decision on the development sites will be made an Assembly planning inspector at the end of 2011.

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