PLANS to build 56 homes on a former steelworks site in Ebbw Vale have been outlined.

Developer Davies Homes has launched a pre-application consultation on the proposals to build housing on land known as the Northgate, which is part of a regeneration project at The Works site.

The 1.8-hectare site is currently vacant and was previously used as part of a steelworks site in the town.

Under the plans, the development will include 37 three-bedroom homes, 14 four-bedroom homes, two one-bedroom flats and three two-bedroom flats.

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Five of the 56 homes would be affordable housing, around nine per cent of the development.

A planning statement says Blaenau Gwent council is seeking 10 per cent affordable housing.

Access to the site will be provided via two junctions off Lime Avenue, a design and access statement says.

The statement says careful consideration is required to ensure the development does not detract from the Grade II* listed Ebbw Vale Works Museum, which is located to the south of the site.

“The proposed development will enhance the significance of the historic asset,” it says.

“The development will bring a vacant parcel of land (which currently detracts from how the site is appreciated) back to beneficial use and in turn will increase the footfall to the museum.

“This will enable more people to appreciate the historic and cultural importance of the steelworks to the heritage of the area and as such will enhance how the asset is appreciated, experienced and understood.”

All of the proposed homes would also be located away from a small portion of the site which is located in a flood zone.

The site lies within a section of The Works which is allocated in Blaenau Gwent council’s Local Development Plan for a mixed use which includes 520 homes, a hospital, business park, learning zone, leisure centre and arts centre.

It is located close to the town centre, public transport, a cycle route and other facilities.

The plans say two car parking spaces for each of the three and four-bedroom homes will be required, with private garages also proposed.

Four trees would be removed to make way for the development, but the plans say proposed landscaping would “adequately mitigate for the loss”.

A pre-application consultation is open until August 19, with plans expected to be submitted to the council in the coming months.

View details at asbriplanning.co.uk/statutory-pre-application-consultation.