SIR,

Within the next few weeks this is the sort of question that a series of hearings into the deposit Monmouthshire County Local Development Plan will be asking.

An independent inspector has been appointed by the Welsh Assembly Government to conduct these hearings and to decide whether or not this plan is 'sound'.

In other words whether it is consistent with national and local policies and is it clear and logical with a strategy that is based on robust and creditable evidence.

Many of the sessions will be looking at where the 4,000 or so houses that are estimated to be required in the county over the 10 years between 2011 and 2021 will be built.

It is assumed that this is based on official household projections for all the counties in Wales which show an increase for Wales as a whole of 25 per cent between 2008 and 2033.

In fact the projected increase in Monmouthshire is less than this at 20 per cent over the same 25-year period.

While this may not be unduly high in absolute terms, this is still a large number for the county to absorb given the high quality of the landscape and scattered nature of the settlements.

It is also vitally important that enough affordable homes are provided in the right places.

The Monmouthshire branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales has already submitted comments on the plan on matters close to its heart; particularly:

• Whether the distribution and number of houses in the County is sustainable and appropriate;

• are the policies on the rural economy reasonable and sufficient; and

• a concern that the rural landscape has not been given enough protection in the plan.

These topics are to be the subject of closer scrutiny by the inspector at three of the hearing sessions.

Members of the Monmouthshire branch of CPRW will be attending these and will contribute to the debate in the hope that the resultant plan will ensure the protection of a highly attractive landscape and will encourage a vibrant rural economy.

Chris Jarvis

(CPRW Monmouthshire Branch)