Pressure could be put on Monmouth to provide more housing after it was revealed that the Welsh Government is not keen to support a village settlement without the involvement of other Welsh councils.

Proposals for homes built on nearly 3,000 acres close to the M4 corridor have been put on hold. Before any large village settlement can be agreed, it was confirmed ministers would not support the idea until a strategic plan is drawn up that includes Newport and Cardiff councils.MCC may now have to decide whether to allow submissions for planning for housing developments to centre in the four county towns of Monmouth, Chepstow, Caldicot and Abergavenny, or ease pressure by allowing more rural developments outside the Local Development Plan to address the housing shortfall.It came as planning for 130 homes on land west of Rockfield Road was again recommended for refusal because the local infrastructure is not in place to accommodate such a large number of homes so far out of the town.Welsh Water had confirmed the sewage and water system was not capable of coping with all 130 homes and Hallam Land Management has put two options on the table to overcome the problem.The 340 development on Wonastow Road suffered from a similar dilemma and new sewage pipe was laid from Wonastow to the sewage works adjacent to Chippenham via the Link Road to provide the capacity for the new homes.County Councillor Richard Roden updated the town council planning committee on the latest development with the consultation on the new housing plan.He said the Welsh Government’s refusal to accept the large development had caused the county council some issues.“We are seeking ways to resolve this so we can go back to having a large settlement in the south of the county, which is the preferred option, but if the Welsh Government don’t play ball with this, it will leave us in a state of flux,” he added.“I would imagine we would try to put the majority of the development with the four towns, although Monmouth has got issues that the other three don’t, in that the infrastructure is struggling to cope,” he added“The general feeling at county level is that there will not be large scale development in Monmouth other than is already proposed”.