South Wales urban village plan gets green light

Plans to build 900 homes in South Wales as part of an urban village plan have been approved by Torfaen County Borough Council.

In addition to the new homes next to Mamhilad Park Estate, a primary school, neighbourhood centre, as well as play and recreational facilities will be constructed.

The development, located on the A4042 between the M4 motorway and Abergavenny, will include approximately 47 acres of residential development, including a range of family homes and a “significant percentage” of affordable homes.

Property company Johnsey Estates, which owns the brownfield development land and the neighbouring Mamhilad Park Estate where some 1,700 people work, submitted the outline application to Torfaen planners.

Andrew Wilkinson, chairman of Johnsey Estates, said: “This isn’t simply a straightforward housing development, it is an imaginative regeneration project which will see the creation of an urban village.

“This village will create a community which is a great place in which to live, to bring up a family and in which to work. It will deliver an exceptional and enviable quality of life.”

The development will also include a series of open spaces linked by tree-lined streets to create walking and cycling routes connecting with the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal.

The proposed green spaces include a neighbourhood park at the heart of the site, retention of ancient woodland, as well as a range of ecological measures associated with new housing.