A group of Newport residents are dismayed at news that a controversial development could be given the green light by planners today (Wednesday).

Plans to build 35 houses on a site off Feidr Eglwys have been recommended for approval by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority officers, subject to conditions, when the application is considered by the development management committee today.

The proposal includes 14 affordable units, and will incorporate open space and new access points. The authority is reported to have received 58 letters objecting and 14 in support, plus a petition against the plans with more than 300 signatures. Concerned residents fear the site would have an adverse impact on the area, while others have welcomed the potential of affordable homes.

Officers state: “Following detailed consideration of the issues, and of the responses received from statutory consultees and the public, the proposed development is considered to be appropriate to the setting, and would be in accordance with national and local planning policy.”

There was previously allocation for 20 units on the site in the Local Development Plan, and Newport Town Council has objected to the plans as the number of dwellings on the plans exceeds this.

Concerns have also been raised about the increased traffic which may by generated by the development, however the Trunk Road Agency has no objections.

The report states that the application can be delegated to officers for approval, subject to negotiation of a Section 106 agreement.

Members of Bentinck Development Opposition Group (BDOG) say the recommendation is ‘bad news’ for the town.

A spokesman for the group said: “The not unexpected but, nevertheless, tremendously disappointing news is that they are recommending to the planning committee when it comes before them.” She added: “In the face of all the opposition of the people of Newport, along with the resolution of the Town Council, to this application, due to the devastation that will be caused to the environment and the serious traffic issues which we already battle with particularly in the summer months, this news is nothing short of a planning travesty.”

The group says the development will provide a ‘minimal’ amount of rented social housing, with more open market housing for second homes in a community with a second home ownership rate in excess of 40% “The reasons given by the officers why the number of dwellings on the site as recommended by the inspector in the LDP , have been plainly ignored, amount to little more than a tissue of irrational excuses.”

The report concludes: “The proposed development – whilst greater in density than advised in the housing allocation in the Local Development Plan – would provide a previously unforeseen opportunity for the provision of new dwellings within the centre of Newport, the development of which can still be demonstrated as being appropriate to the site and setting in terms of siting, design, access, landscaping and external appearance.”