At a recent town council planning meeting, Cllr Brehany gave a summary of the recent meeting she and other councillors had attended which aimed to open the floor for residents to ask questions about the LDP proposal for 270 new homes to be built on land north of Dixton roundabout in Osbaston Ward.

The land off Dixton Road, is the preferred site in the revised plan for homes in Monmouth, despite the A40 roundabout already seeing significant traffic hold ups at busy times, and the site being just yards from the 1500-pupil Monmouth Comprehensive School.

A potential 110 homes on land at Drewen Farm and a site at Tudor Road, Wyesham are both included in the current development plan.

It was explained at the planning meeting that the Revised Local Development PLan (RDLP) was currently at Stage 3 meaning that the next step was to secure planning permission, this would not be applied for until after the public consultation scheduled for Spring 2024.

It was confirmed that Section 106 has not been applied for yet. Questions were raised about local protected species in the area and how the development could potentially disturb them. MCC representatives responded stating that as the proposed development is 100 metres away from these woods: no species would be disturbed.

Concerns were raised regarding the potential for increased traffic and therefore pollution to the area, particularly near schools. This highlighted a real need for greater road infrastructure alongside the proposed houses. Representatives responded saying that as a legal obligation, a monitor was already being used on the A40 to obtain car number data, Cllr. Brehany felt this response was unsatisfactory.

Representatives hope that new houses would bring young adults and families to Monmouth which led to questions regarding how jobs would be created to satisfy a growing population. Again Cllr. Brehany felt there was no satisfactory response to this. Questions were asked about how already overcrowded schools and GP surgeries would manage with the increase in population this development would bring.