A CONSERVATION architect says there is clear opposition to proposals for new housing, a hotel and care home on the “only clear green field” approaching Chepstow.

The scheme for 146 homes, an 80 bed hotel and care home off Mounton Road are included in Monmouthshire Council’s replacement local development plan.

But Richard Liddell, a former senior planning officer with the old Monmouth District Council, said the fields near the traffic pinch-point Highbeech roundabout, have long been protected from development.

Presenting a petition to the council, he said: “The Gwent strategic plan in 1981 designated the fields at Mounton as green space and they were considered as important as the gateway to the Wye Valley and that designation has been kept in successive amendments to the plan.”

The plans would “destroy the only clear green field view when approaching Chepstow” from the south, he adds.

The town resident collected a 49-name petition from residents of the Penterry Park estate “to gauge the extent of support in Chepstow for objections” to the proposals for Mounton fields, which indicated 56 per cent opposition.

“The estate does not overlook the Mounton Road fields, so the accusation of Nimbyism is not applicable,” he says.

“The occupants who responded were asked if they would like to sign a petition of objection to the proposals.”

Based on the level of opposition, Mr Liddell estimated around 70 per cent of Chepstow’s 5,495 households would object to the proposals, which he said is 56 per cent of its adult population.

He said he recognised development is necessary, with 50 per cent of the proposed homes designated as 'affordable', but said the Bayfield site, further along the A466, and included in the 2022 draft of the plan, would be better suited.

Monmouthshire Council’s consultation is due to close on Monday (December 16) before the plan’s submission to the Welsh Government for review by a planning inspector.