MAJOR plans for up to 300 new houses near Portskewett have been lodged with the local authority.

The proposals include a new care home and a public open space on land south of Crick Road.

An outline application was submitted last month on behalf of Monmouthshire County Council and Melin Homes.

The council had been in negotiations to sell the greenfield site to the housing association since June 2016, with a deal finally struck last November.

Both parties have agreed to the building of 285 houses, with 71 being allocated as social housing.

The proposed 48-bed care home would replace the Severn View Residential Home in Chepstow, which was built in 1979.

Early plans shared with councillors suggest that the facility would provide 24-hour care for people with dementia.

The 11 hectares of fields have been the subject of council interest since it adopted a local development plan (LDP) in 2014.

Crick Road was one of seven strategic housing sites identified by the council to help reach their aim of building 488 homes a year.

But only 667 homes have been completed in four years, with the strategic sites either incomplete or stuck in planning limbo.

A planning report says the proposed estate would be an “acceptable and sustainable form of residential development”.

Planners also say the development would have no adverse impact on highway safety or the character and appearance of the area.

But concerns have been raised about the existing infrastructure in the area, with reference to another nearby development – the 212 houses on the site of the former Sudbrook Paper Mill.

Lucy Owen, a Portskewett resident, wrote in an objection: “I believe a development of this type will ruin Portskewett as a village.

“[Grayhill Surgery in Caldicot] is unable to cope with the amount of appointments. This will only be made worse once the housing in Sudbrook is complete and this development will only add to the burden.

“There will also be pressure on infrastructure, causing congestion, pollution, and road safety issues in this area.”

Fellow Portskewett resident Amy Lee said: “The burden for Monmouthshire [Council’s] quota for house building appears to have fallen to the towns and villages in south Monmouthshire on the M4 corridor.

“Portskewett is a village. Too much urbanisation will fundamentally change the community, aspect and functionality of this small village.”

The application is likely to go before the council’s planning committee in the coming months.