OPPOSITION is mounting against the latest phase of plans for a major development near Portskewett in Monmouthshire.

Melin Homes has lodged a reserved matters application for 271 homes on land south of Crick Road.

Outline permission for up to 291 homes and a 48-bed care home to provide round-the-clock care for dementia patients was approved by Monmouthshire councillors last November.

The development will include 73 affordable homes, seven bungalows and an open play area.

But around a dozen objections have already been lodged in response to the application this week, with concerns over Portskewett’s infrastructure for the development.

One objector writes: “You cannot build 271 houses or any houses for that matter if there are no school places in the local school or any school within reasonable distance.

“The only fact that should matter to this application is that there is not the infrastructure or capacity around this land to support the additional people’s basic needs such as education or health care.”

Another resident says Caldicot is “at bursting point”, with traffic problems and services already “horrendously overwhelmed.”

Concerns the plans are “not in keeping with the area” have also been voiced.

Some have called for the application to be reviewed outside of the council – for example by a planning inspector.

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

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 authority to help reach its aim of building 488 homes a year.

The council struck a deal to sell the greenfield site to the housing association, Melin Homes, in November, 2017.

Supporters say the plans are a “model development” which others could follow, calling the proposals an “acceptable and sustainable form of residential development.”

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