CONTENTIOUS plans for a housing development on land south of Crick Road in Portskewett include 269 houses and a play area.

Outline planning permission was approved last year for 291 homes and a care home on land south of Crick Road, though design changes mean the number of homes has been reduced.

Two subsequent applications for reserved matters, will be considered by Monmouthshire County Council next week.

Monmouthshire council has submitted plans for the care home, while housing association Melin Homes has submitted plans for the housing development.

The outline application included two access points for the development, which will largely remain the same.

In the reserved matters application submitted by Melin Homes it says roads, where possible, will have a design speed of 20 mph or less. For this reason, the reserved matters application does not include designated cycle lanes.

Due to simplicity and slight design changes, the number of homes has been reduced to 269, with five houses benefiting from private drives.

Homes of a variety of different sizes will be available.

There will be two one-bed apartments and two two-bed apartments, and the rest will be houses - 51 two-bed houses, 68 three-bed houses and 78 four-bed houses.

The proposal also features 68 affordable homes, which will be dotted around the site.

The affordable homes will include 12 one-bed flats, 27 two-bed houses, 22 three-bed houses and seven two-bed bungalows.

The plans also include a play area, which would benefit from a balance beam, a triangular net, chain path, climbing wall and a horizontal bar.

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However, there have been 33 representations from neighbours.

They have raised concerns over a lack of privacy in relation to the properties backing onto the development, the potential drain on community services, and potential traffic issues on Crick Road.

A reserved matters application has also been submitted by Monmouthshire council for the proposed 32-bed care home.

The reserved matters cover conditions including, layout, scale, appearance and landscaping.

The care home has been designed to be dementia friendly and has been designed around a communal garden, in a 'U' shape.

The planning report says: “It is interesting to note in the supporting information with the application that the site has been inspired by a new approach to dementia care, a model of individual ‘houses’ of eight residents each, centred around a beautifully designed dementia-friendly courtyard garden.”

Both applications have been recommended for approval and will be considered by the council’s planning committee next Tuesday, February 4.