A PLAN intended to allow for more than 2,000 new homes faces a last-minute delay due to a council “error”.

Hearing sessions, which were due to take place next week to examine the proposals for new housing, including large sites in and around Monmouth as well as Chepstow and Caldicot, have had to be postponed until September.

Monmouthshire County Council has been working on the current proposed local development plan for the past four years. It identifies new housing and employment sites across the county as well as providing the policies by which all planning applications can be judged.

Without a plan in place the county could face almost unrestricted development as the council wouldn’t have an up-to-date planning policy to manage and control development.

Schemes included in the local development plan include new housing in Monmouth, 770 new homes between Caldicot and Portskewett, 500 new homes east of Abergavenny, and 146 new homes, as well as a care home and hotel development at Mounton Road, Chepstow. The plan would also require 50 per cent of all new housing is affordable.

The hearings, which had been due to take place on Tuesday, June 16 and 17 would have allowed the independent inspectors, who are assessing the plan, to hear from objectors and consider evidence put forward including from Monmouthshire council.

In a letter from the two inspectors, sent to the council, they have accepted its request to delay next week’s hearing but are clear the delay is due to a “failure” by the council.

Inspectors J de-Courcey and C MacFarlane told Monmouthshire council the hearing has to be delayed until its failure to comply with part of the legislation has been “remedied”.

The inspectors stated “the council has failed to comply with the requirements of regulation 23” and said it agreed the hearings would have to be postponed, but made clear the authority is at fault.

Their letter stated: “The earliest available date for commencement of the hearing sessions is Tuesday 8 September 2026.”

The council has been working on the current version of the development plan, which has been subject to a number of public consultations, since the current Labour administration came to power at County Hall in 2022.

Work on the plan had to be restarted, by the new Labour council administration, after the plan that was being drawn up by the previous Conservative council administration was rejected by the Welsh Government for proposing too many new homes.

A Monmouthshire council spokesman said: “The council has requested a postponement of the RLDP examination hearing sessions to ensure full compliance with Regulation 23 requirements. This relates to a technical matter concerning the publicity of the hearing sessions.

“The council is taking the necessary steps to address the issue raised and to ensure there is no ambiguity regarding compliance with the regulations. We are committed to supporting a fair and transparent examination process. The hearings will now commence on 8 September 2026.”