PLANS have been submitted for a major development which would mean a new ‘urban village’ will be partially built on a disused industrial site.

Planning permission is being sought for the for development of the Parke-Davis site, located on the A4042 between Pontypool and Abergavenny.

A development plan for the site was drawn up in July 2009 and a planning application was submitted in 2017 with plans for 975 dwellings through demolition of existing buildings.

The latest proposal has some small changes to the submitted application, and has a provision of up to 900 dwellings, a primary school, a mixed-use neighbourhood centre and substantial formal and informal play and recreational facilities.

An estimated 1,600 people currently work at the Mamhilad Park Estate, which is owned by Johnsey Estates.

Andrew Wilkinson, chair of Johnsey Estates said: “It just isn’t a housing development, it is the creation of an urban village which as a concept is so different and an integral part of that is creating a community which is a good place to live and to work. It will be one place that will offer everything and a quality of life which is quite exceptional.”

Property consultant Peter Downes said: “The whole thing, when it’s finished, will be about the size of Usk and will include the school and community uses and a small retail area.”

He added that the site is already designed with traffic flows for the thousands of people who worked at the site when it was a nylon factory.

Johnsey Estates bought the Parke-Davis site in the 1990s.

The planning appilcation was first submitted to Torfaen Council on June 20, 2017 the resubmission of the revised scheme was submitted on June 4, 2018.

CEO James Crawford said: “We expect to have planning consent in our hands in 2019 and we would like to start the process of house building as soon as we can. We will have to select a preferred bidder and have a legal agreement so houses may not appear for another two or three years.

“We are currently demolishing the old buildings. They were 70s buildings and built for a purpose so it is difficult to find a new purpose for them, and so to move those on to create the housing density is what it is all about."