THREE new major housing developments could be built in the east of Newport, bringing around 3,650 homes to the city.
New house building targets mean planners in the city council will have to find enough land for nearly 5,000 homes over the next 13 years if they are to keep up with expected demand for housing.
Key sites for development include two sites in the village of Langstone, and one in Llanwern.
Newport City Council is preparing to consult members of the public this autumn on its new replacement Local Development Plan, a document which identifies where and how new homes are located by the year 2036.
The council has indicated it would prefer that homes are built on previously developed land (PDL) – also known as brownfield sites – but acknowledges “the availability of readily developable PDL sites is decreasing in Newport”.
This means the council may have to turn to undeveloped – or greenfield land – to meet its targets.
The replacement Local Development Plan will support 10,530 new homes as well as enough land to accommodate the creation of at least 8,460 new jobs, draft documents show.
Some 5,851 homes are already in the pipeline, either currently under construction or expected to be completed by the end of 2036, leaving the council to find new space for around 4,680 extra houses.
The council said meeting those targets “is essential for meeting local housing needs and continued growth within the city”, especially given Newport’s population grew by 9.5% between 2011 and 2021, the highest increase of any council area in Wales in that time.
Three “key sites” for large developments have been identified, in the east of the city.
At the largest of those sites, in Llanwern, land either side of Langstone Road has been earmarked for a “mixed use development for up to 2,500 homes, a district centre, public open space and a network of green infrastructure”.
The development, if built, would include a link to the proposed new railway station for Llanwern, a new primary school accommodating three forms for every academic year, and the possibility of a new secondary school.
Another “key site” has been identified north of Langstone for “up to 750 homes and a local centre”.
The site would include “local retail and commercial uses… to address neighbourhood needs”, and “provision of new leisure space onsite”.
But any new development would have to support “measures to avoid traffic impacts on the Coldra M4 roundabout junction”, around two kilometres to the west.
A third “key site” has been selected south of Langstone, with space for “up to 300 homes”.
But the council notes part of the land is “subject to flood risk from rivers” and should not be developed.
The council said both of the proposed sites for the village would have to include “educational facilities to address needs arising from new development through the expansion of existing or provision of new facilities in the Langstone area”.
Newport City Council’s cabinet is expected to discuss the replacement Local Development Plan later this week.
At a meeting on Monday September 11, the council’s place and corporate performance scrutiny committee heard a series of public events are likely to be held later this year, at which Newport residents can learn more about the proposals.
