A PUBLIC meeting is to be held after more than 160 objection letters were received in relation to a controversial planning application.

Raglan Community Council is convening a public consultation meeting relating to a Planning Application submitted to Monmouthshire County Council to develop land on land south of Monmouth Road, Raglan.

A spokesperson for the council said: "This Planning Application is the largest Planning Application that has been received for development in Raglan for decades. At present the Planning Authority has received an estimated 160 objection letters relating to the proposed development. The meeting will be convened on the 15th August at 7pm at the Old School, Chepstow Road, Raglan."

Plans for 111 houses for Raglan are already on the table with many objectors claiming that the ambitious plans on former agricultural land will see the village being swamped with the recently built school and the doctors’ surgery at maximum capacity.

Richborough Estates are confident the plans will bear fruit despite objectors pointing to a restrictive covenant on the land and a change in planning guidance by the Welsh Assembly.

It comes after a separate application - one for outline planning application for 45 homes on the Chepstow Road - was approved this week.

The five acre greenfield site is adjacent to Fayre Oaks and The Willows on the one side, and Brooklands Lodge on the other.

The outline planning - no details of access, appearance, layout and scale have been submitted - was approved by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) on Tuesday. The site will have an allocation of 16 social rented homes and 29 other homes.

The applicant, MCC, anticipates the site will generate 10 primary aged pupils and nine secondary pupils who would be accommodated in Raglan Primary and Monmouth Comprehensive schools.

Objections to the development highlight the fact the site is on a flood plain and has previously been considered unsuitable for development on a number of occasions since the 1970s.

Other objectors fear the school and doctors’ surgery will not cope with the additional houses and long-term residents testify to a history of sewage problems since the development of Ethley Drive and point out the capacity of the water treatment plan opposite Brookes Farm will need to be reviewed.

The Raglan Village Action Group have similar concerns and feel that the recently built school is at full capacity with local children being refused places. A spokesman for the group said: “Children being transported to other schools in the county is not good for the community or welfare of the pupils being schooled away from their local friends and will also result in increased CO2 emissions.”

The group also feel that the access onto the A40 is extremely dangerous with serious accidents recorded all too frequently. An increase in traffic will put more pressure on the junctions increasing the risk of serious or fatal collisions and the increased traffic will cause further congestion in the high street which could result in double yellow lines. They claim this will ruin passing trade for the long established retailers who rely on customers being able to park on the High Street.

Other objections they highlighted included the site is prone to flooding and the proposed high density development is not in-keeping with the surrounding properties.