FEARS over the speed of traffic along a road near a garden centre have been raised by councillors who’ve approved plans for a glamping site.

A field beside Groesenon Road, which is locally known as the Old Abergavenny Road, will be used for three timber glamping pods while councillors also gave permission for an office building, cycle storage, parking and an area of hard standing.

Members of Monmouthshire County Council’s planning committee said they were concerned about traffic speeds along the road where there is a 50 mile per hour speed limit.

The site at Wern y Cwrt is around one and a half miles west of Raglan and described by planning officer Phil Thomas as a sustainable location near to a bus stop, with services to Raglan, Monmouth and Abergavenny.

He said: “It’s a relatively busy road and not far from the garden centre and the cattle market.”

Mr Thomas said the applicants want to encourage the use of electric bikes which they will provide to guests while there will also be solar powered charging points available and an EV charging point to encourage people with electric vehicles to stay there.

Wyesham councillor Emma Bryn said she had “some reservations” after the committee visited the site.

“It’s a very unattractive road to walk on with no pavement,” said the independent councillor who welcomed the plan to make e-bikes available: “Cycling might be more palatable.”

She also asked if it would be possible to flag buses down, at the site entrance, rather than walking to the bus stop though Mr Thomas said “I don’t know about flagging buses down but I doubt it.”

Conservative member for Mitchell Troy and Trellech Jayne McKenna said: “It can be a dangerous road I would have concerns about that and how close the office building and one pod are to the highway.”

Party colleague, St Arvans member, Ann Webb, said: “It’s not a road I’d like to bike along. It’s a fast, dangerous, road.”

Remains of a stone wall, damaged by a vehicle that came off the road, will also be used to create a barrier between the office building and the road.

Adaptations were made to the plan to address the concerns of highways officers, including moving the site entrance, with the number of pods reduced to two one bed units and one with two beds.

The application was approved with 11 councillors voting in favour and three against.