PLANS to build up to 200 homes on a greenfield site in Chepstow have been unanimously rejected by county planning chiefs.

The proposed development along the A466 Wye Valley link road had been met with strong opposition from the local authority as well as residents and organisations.

An outline application, which was originally submitted in 2013, submitted plans to build 190 houses on the 10 hectare site, which would include 123 market housing units and 67 intermediate.

But concerns over increased traffic along the busy road and nearby High Beach roundabout remained a common theme of discussion among members of Monmouthshire County Council's planning committee.

Council chairman Jim Higginson said: "There’s already problems on that roundabout with traffic for most of the day.

"The access is an issue as well - I don’t think the access on that road is suitable at all."

Planning officers had recommended refusal on the grounds that the site exists outside of Chepstow's developmental boundary and that approving the plans would directly go against policies within the council's Local Development Plan (LDP).

Monmouth councillor Bob Hayward said that in previous discussions while developing the LDP, councillors had "more desire" to see developments at the Fairfield/Mabey brownfield site.

According to Cllr Hayward, choosing said site over the proposed "peripheral" greenfield site would be a choice which would "protect" the A466 entry into Chepstow and provide a green wedge.

He added: "In Chepstow, the number of housing being built over the period of 10 years is excessive to other parts of the county.

"To release another site with another 200 houses would put too big a burden on the infrastructure of Chepstow."

Other issues raised to the council, largely from 46 addresses writing in objection, included the preservation of the Grade II listed St Lawrence House which sits on the northern boundary of the site.

Cllr Higginson said that the development would be "a blot" on the area surrounding a building which he believed carried "significant historical interest."