PLANS for 24 new homes have been approved as part of a multi-million pound scheme to regenerate the Ringland area of Newport.
Newport City Homes has been granted planning permission to demolish a four-storey maisonette building in Mountbatten Close, containing 12 flats, and to replace it with a mixture of houses and a new three-storey block of flats.
The development forms the initial phase of wider plans by Newport City Homes to bring a “new identity” to Ringland.
An artist's impression of the development. Picture - Newport City Homes
A masterplan outlines plans to create a new shopping area and shared square as a focal point of the community, joining together the centre with the wider neighbourhood
The current housing block in Mountbatten Close, built in the early 1960s, will be replaced with “modern high-quality affordable homes.”
A block of 12 affordable flats and 12 semi-detached affordable houses are included in the proposals.
Residents living in the current maisonettes will be rehomed in Newport City Homes’ development at Cot Farm in Ringland for 56 homes, which has already been approved.
The existing housing block at Ringland, which will be demolished
“Residents will therefore be staying on the same estate and any children attending local schools can continue to do so,” a planning report says.
The plans will help to meet a “specific affordable housing need” in the area, the report says.
One letter of support and two of objection were lodged in response to the plans.
The letter of support said it would be a “relief” to see the existing flats demolished, describing them as an “eyesore.”
Concerns from objectors included that a “beautiful greenspace and trees will be destroyed.”
Planning officers say it is “regrettable in principle” that some green space will be lost as part of the development.
However they say there will still remain a “surplus” of open spaces in the area.
“The proposed development fulfils a regeneration and affordable housing need within the Ringland area and forms the initial phase in the wider regeneration of the area,” the report adds.
The application was approved at a committee meeting on Monday as a delegated decision.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here