Vision Needed for Monmouth's Future

12.00.00am GMT Tue 14th Dec 2004

Proposals for 100 new homes in the Rockfield Road area risks turning the expansion of Monmouth in to an unplanned mess, say Monmouthshire Liberal Democrats.

Monmouthshire County Council is due to meet on Thursday of this week to approve new parcels of land being designated for housing development to meet the council's future Unitary Development Plan (UDP) housing targets. One of the identified sites is an extension to the new housing estates off Rockfield Road, extending Monmouth's urban body further into the countryside.

Phil Hobson, Liberal Democrat Group leader on Monmouthshire County Council said: "We are not, as a group, opposed to development. However, we do see the need for comprehensive planning to allow the local infrastructure to keep up with development, which clearly is not happening. Instead there appears to be a greenfield free-for-all where any proposal is welcome, regardless of its impact on the town."

It is also emerged that the Welsh Development Agency is in the process of purchasing land for employment development along Wonastow Road. It is also understood that this could lead to further greenfield sites being available for development, both residential and industrial.

Phil Hobson added, "We really need to start asking ourselves where Monmouth will be in 20 years time. It's no good allowing development to proceed field-by-field unless we have a comprehensive look at our infrastructure: local schools such as Monmouth Comprehensive are full; medical facilities such as doctors and dentists face ever increasing patient lists, and public transport and road traffic issues in Monmouth continue to get bigger. Monmouth is a great place to live and work, and if we want to keep it that way, proper thought and consideration has to be given to expansion.

"The whole purpose of the council's UDP is to ensure we have a plan that works for the future - we need some vision and proper planning ahead."

Eileen Goodrich, county councillor (Lib Dem, Monmouth: Dixton with Osbaston) said, "Residents consistently report that traffic along Rockfield Road is becoming heavier by the day. Although transport engineers claim the road can cope with the traffic generated from 605 new houses, I really fear that another 100 new homes could bring us to breaking point.

"A picture is rapidly emerging that Monmouth's future expansion will be to the west of the town and we really now need to get to grips with the traffic problems that expansion will generate. At the same time, we need leadership from the county council to plan properly for the future in terms of school provision, medical facilities, transport and the environment."

NOTES

Monmouthshire County Council meet on Thursday, December 16th at 10h00 in the council chamber to consider the Council's response to the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) Inquiry Inspector's preliminary conclusions on the UDP Housing Target.