PEOPLE who live in or around Newport and people who love Newport need to wake up to the fact that a planning application is in to the National Park for what the Park itself calls a “major”

housing development – because we, the public, have been given very little time to try to prevent it going ahead as planned – till May 1 – and then we will be allowed just one person to speak against the development for just five minutes to the National Park Planning Committee.

People have to ask themselves “Will this affect me?”

because the Bentinck Development Opposition Group (BDOG) believes it will affect far more people than those who even yet know about it The Planning Statement accompanying the scheme implies that those behind the development have been working with “relevant stakeholders”

– such as Pembrokeshire County Council Highways and the National Park planners – for a long time, that, “The town council support the proposal in principle and are pleased the allocation is coming forward,” and, most alarming for BDOG members and those who are neighbours to this site, or use the roads around it,”The scheme has the support of the local highway authority”. We all get the impression that this is a done deal.

At the same time, the claim is made that, “Extensive preapplication (sic) has taken place...” “within the community...”

yet the first that nearly all those to be directly affected had any inkling of this happening was when the National Park wrote giving less than three weeks to comment.

If you live on Feidr Bentinck, Feidr Eglwys, Kings Street or Kings Terrace, Goat Street or St Mary Street, if you from time to time park on Church Street or below the castle or on Market Street, to shop or go to a café or pub or to church or a concert there, or use the church hall, if you live on the Cilgwyn Road or come into Newport from that direction, if you walk these narrow but pleasant roads for pleasure, or cycle them, then do get in touch to find out more. Bear in mind that it may take years to construct this scheme Traffic and the knock-on effect on the rest of the town’s fragile infrastructure are not BDOG’s only concerns.

We have worries about a densely packed housing estate abutting the Conservation Area as the first thing to see when entering Newport on this important tourist route; we have concerns about 21 of the 35 houses planned being open-market houses available to second home owners if they want them – in a town where statistics seem to show around 40% of households are thus occupied; and we wonder about the effect this might have if they become holiday homes on the cohesiveness of our community and on the Welsh language etc etc.

Ros McGarry

BDOG Coordinator