We would like to register our extreme disappointment with a recent planning decision in Osbaston and highlight the dangers it poses to the character of Monmouth and other towns.

On 4th February 2020 Monmouthshire County Council Planning Committee (MCC) approved a proposal to build a new house on Beaufort Road despite 60 serious and well-researched objections from local residents and the Mayor Richard Roden.

The proposal is for a ‘tandem development’ on a narrow plot with the new house constructed in the rear garden immediately behind the original property sharing a common access running past the old house.

There has been quite a lot of housing infill in Osbaston recently but this application is significantly different and its approval creates a precedent that threatens the character of any town or village in Monmouthshire.

Monmouth Town Council unanimously rejected this proposal twice because it did not meet established the planning guidelines set out in the 2014 Local Development Plan on issues such as respecting the distinctive character of the area, respecting the built heritage and protecting and enhancing environmental assets.

Welsh Water registered concerns about its impact on drain-water and sewage and parking on this narrow road will now become even more dangerous.

MCC has ploughed on despite these objections, including a personal plea by our Mayor.

Similar proposals have previously been roundly rejected in Osbaston, including by an Inspector appointed by the Welsh Assembly who stated that the amenity of an area should not be damaged by over-development and insensitive or inappropriate infill. The Inspector concluded that this type of development can cause problems of loss of privacy and amenity by virtue of noise, fumes and general disturbance. 

What’s different is that in 2019 the MCC revamped its planning guidelines in a document called ‘Infill Development Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG)’, which it thinks gives developers the right to build all over rear gardens including those that have previously been protected by their short road frontage. This is what allowing tandem development means.

That has huge implications not just for Osbaston but for the garden-rich areas in towns such as Chepstow and Abergavenny. Gradually such dense infill could change their character, impact wildlife corridors and increase the already severe pressure on services.

With every such development, reliance on private cars increases and it becomes more dangerous to walk around. Narrow lanes like Beaufort Road become too dangerous for young people to walk to school and the last bastion of rear gardens, where our children can exercise and enjoy their leisure, is placed at risk of being concreted over ‘one development at a time’.

We urge fellow residents to be aware of this new infill planning guidance and consider whether the long-term damage to the character of our towns is the right way forward for our county.

Alastair Ray, Tony Forster, John Craig, on behalf of many residents of Osbaston