Monmouth MP David Davies met with apprentices from David Wilson Homes in the town to celebrate New Homes Week.

The King’s Wood Gate consortium development as a whole has had a huge impact locally.

Almost 1,500 jobs are being supported over the life of the scheme; more than £1m has been contributed towards adult recreation; £200,000 to local transport and £100,000 to local footpath management and maintenance.

Mr Davies was met at the site by members of the David Wilson Homes team.

He said: “I have been hugely impressed by the support and training David Wilson Homes is giving to apprentices.

“These young people are getting paid while they learn the valuable skills which are desperately needed in our expanding economy.

“Building new homes is always a somewhat emotive subject but our population grew by over half a million people last year and we have to build as much high quality housing as possible to meet the demand.

“The houses I saw look great and the apprentices took a real pride in their work.

“Governments of all colours seem to want every young person to go to university these days. However, I am convinced that we need to encourage more people to look at the possible advantages of learning practical skills through an apprenticeship.”

Steve Williams, divisional managing director of David Wilson Homes South Wales, said: “As a five-star developer we are immensely proud of Kings Wood Gate.

“Our aim and ambition is to build communities where people want to live. I’m particularly delighted to report that surveys taken from customers who have moved into King’s Wood Gate have shown that 100 per cent of those surveyed would recommend David Wilson Homes to others.”