COUNCILLORS will decide at a later date whether to allow a new housing development on the site of a Wyesham vicarage.

Plans to extend Hillcrest Road to accomodate 11 new houses and a replacement vicarage were deferred by members of Monmouthshire County Council's planning committee last Tuesday (5th November).

The application site includes the vicarage owned by the Diocese of Hereford and a former Western Power Company distribution depot.

A petition with around 277 signatures objecting to the proposal was received by the council.

According to the application details published online, the land is in an unkempt condition and is overgrown with trees and scrub vegetation.

The application details state: "The site, which has been disused for some years, was last occupied by Western Power as their site compound. Previous uses include a waterworks depot and a brickworks."

A spokesperson for Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) said: "The application was deferred to enable negotiation to take place on an improved design for the proposed houses, a contaminated land and land stability report for the site and improved parking."

Monmouth Town Council recommended refusal of the application on the basis that: "it is considered to be an overdevelopment of the site with concerns over site access and increased traffic issues on nearby residents and the wider highway network."

Following an enivronmental health desk top study, it was suggested that the historic use of the site might have resulted in contamination, and it was argued that "an appropriate land contamination investigation is required together with an identification of any necessary remediation and it is recommended that appropriate conditions are attached to any planning permission."