PLANS to build a new railway station in Newport have been recommended for approval by Newport council officers.

But privacy worries have been raised over the planned Pye Corner station, due to be built with a car park near Western Valley Road in Rogerstone, by nearby residents.

Members of Newport council planning committee will decide whether to grant planning permission with conditions at a meeting next Wednesday.

The new station on the Ebbw Valley line will provide links to Cardiff and Ebbw Vale and could potentially allow trains to Newport if the service is introduced.

The Argus previously reported worries from nearby residents about privacy concerns at the station – a report to planners shows five got in touch expressing concern over lack of consultation, that train users will be able to overlook into existing properties and at potential increases in noise pollution.

They argued that Western Valley Road is already heavily congested, and it was argued that an alternative place for the station could be the old Focus Site which already has appropriate access and car parking.

Rogerstone councillor Chris Evans objected to planners, saying the site was the wrong location and that there had local families hadn’t been properly consulted “on what will be a major development.”

“I except that a station is in the LDP, however, surely local families should be given the opportunity to have input, particularly those close by and many of which have children whose bedrooms will be visible from stationary trains,” he wrote.

Planners recommended as a planning condition that a screen or a fence should be provided along the southern side of the railway line to prevent passengers seeing into to the rear gardens of properties on Veronica Close and Myrtle Drive.

The planning report suggests that noise levels will be reduced when the lines becomes electrified in future.

Planners say that the application site has been shown within the current development plan and the forthcoming local development plan, both of which have gone through extensive public consultation.

The Welsh and UK governments are providing £3.5 million in funding for the new station, which is pegged to open later this year.