Outline proposals for a development of up to 115 homes at Grove Farm, Llanfoist have been approved by Monmouthshire County Council planning committee.

Crucially, the scheme would include 35 per cent affordable housing.

The application for the development off Gypsy Lane, approved by 13 votes to one, also covered landscaping, vehicular and pedestrian access and related infrastructure and engineering works.

The wider Grove Farm site, including the application site and neighbouring fields (totalling 17 hectares) was at one time considered for development as a care village. But because the Inspector did not specify that the Local Development Plan should include a care allocation, the site was not earmarked for that use.

On advice from planning officers the original proposals were scaled down, from up to 120 to up to 115 dwellings, made up of a mix of two bed to five bed detached, semi-detached and terraced homes.

The extra space is now proposed for drainage provision (including a pumping station), footpaths/cycleways, open space, grazing land, landscaping works and play areas.

Davina Powell, representing the applicant Mr Ben Jones, said the development would make a ‘meaningful addition to the area’s housing shortfall’.

Llanfoist Community Council asked the planning committee to take into consideration that it was a green field site, the land was not marked for development in the LDP, the proposed access was on a dangerous corner, the development was too dense for a rural location and the lane was itself prone to flooding at the proposed access point.

The community council was also concerned that the access was from a country lane carrying a lot of traffic, which was even busier when the Llanellen Bridge was closed due to flooding and it became a diversionary route.

Community councillor Lesley Palmer, underlining the objections at Tuesday’s planning meeting, said Llanfoist was already overdeveloped.

“More than 100 houses have already been built off Gypsy Lane, more than 100 houses at the Coopers site plus a large development at Westgate.

“The infrastructure of the village can’t sustain this. “The primary school is already full, so new residents wouldn’t be able to use it.

“The gateway to the Brecon Beacons is being turned into an urban sprawl.”

She added, “I’ve lived in Llanfoist for 20 years and seen my village doubling in size. There are many other sites within the LDP that are not being developed. Is this (Grove Farm) the easy option?”

Abergavenny and District Civic Society also objected to the application in principle and there were nine ‘neighbour notification’ objections including concerns about overdevelopment, inadequate physical and social infrastructure, the fact that Llanfoist primary school was oversubscribed and that it would be a ribbon development setting a precedent for other applications from local farmers.

But County Councillor Doug Edwards suggested the community council were ‘out of touch with the need for new housing’, pointing out that Welsh Water, the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and other statutory bodies had raised no objections.

County Councillor Roger Harris added, “It’s a pity that when housing in the Abergavenny area was looked at by the LDP Inspector only one site – at Mardy – was recommended.

“Abergavenny is a developing town and we desperately need more housing.”

The planning officer’s report said additional traffic associated with the site would be ‘slight’ and did not represent an increased safety risk.

Amendments to the original plans created a softer transition between town and country and the site layout was now ‘more organic’, with a greater range of housing and substantial green infrastructure.

There would be an attractive ‘green entrance’ via the main access road, created with hedgerows, trees, shrubs and grassed areas.

Planning officers also pointed out that, because the site is outside the Llanfoist Development Boundary it is a departure from the Local Development Plan.

Under supplementary planning guidance ‘departure applications’ in the open countryside must offer 35 per cent of affordable housing.

With up to 115 dwellings this development would provide 40 units – preferably a mix of eight one-bed units (in two blocks of flats), 16 two-bed houses, two four-bed houses and six two-bed bungalows.

County Councillor Debbie Blakeborough, who voted against the application, said she was concerned at the number of planning applications that were going ‘off plan’ because there weren’t enough sites to fill the LDP target.

She said she could understand why local residents were concerned about an ‘urban sprawl’ and she felt uneasy about approving applications outside the LDP.

But County Councillor Maureen Powell saw it as ‘a very good development’.

“We desperately need more houses, particularly affordable houses for people who are renting and want to get on the foot of the housing ladder,” she said.