TWO detached homes to be built either side of a former farmhouse in Chepstow have been given the go ahead.
Caroline Hawkins asked Monmouthshire County Council for planning permission to build the two homes within the grounds of Crossways Farm at Kingsmark Lane.
The application had to be decided by the planning committee due to the number of unresolved objections with five received from neighbours with concerns about access.
However planning officers recommended approval with the highways department having agreed the proposed access from Wintour close is acceptable.
Planning officer Phil Thomas told the committee: “It’s an old farmhouse and it may have once been in splendid isolation but it certainly isn’t now it is in suburban Chepstow.”
He said the housing nearby had been developed from the 1970s onwards.
The one house will have four bedrooms and the other will be slightly smaller with three bedrooms while a single storey extension to the existing house will be demolished to allow for access.
The new houses will be finished in natural stone and brick with natural slate on the roof.
Chepstow councillor Dale Rooke said he was concerned it was an “over development” of the site and that the third house was being “shoe horned in.”
Mr Thomas said the plans were in line with the council’s policy on “in fill” developments where new homes are built on existing sites.
In response to Cllr Emma Bryn, who asked if a condition could be used to control any paving of the back garden, Mr Thomas said regulations only allow conditions on front gardens, but he expects the Welsh Government will address that in the future.
Mr Thomas also said 10 new trees, including silver birch, rowan and hawthorn, would be planted on site, though due to its size the council’s usual three to one replanting ratio couldn’t be achieved. Some existing trees will be retained.
Ms Hawkins will also pay a £15,380 affordable housing contribution.
