• CONTENTS
• List of Policies
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Maps
• Introduction
• Part I Strategy & Policies
• Strategy
• Policies
• Part II Detailed Policies & Justification
• 1 Sustainability Appraisal
• 2 The Environment
• 3 Design
• 4 Housing
• 5 Industry and Employment
• 6 Rural Economy
• 7 Tourism
• 8 Shopping
• 9 Movement
• 10 Conservation of the Historic Environment
• 11 Countryside
• 12 Nature Conservation
• 13 Recreation & Leisure
• 14 Community Facilities
• 15 Minerals
• 16 Waste Planning Management
• 17 Implementation & Monitoring
• Appendix 1: Cadw Register of Landscapes, Parks & Gardens
• Appendix 2: Licensed Non-landfill Waste Facilities
• Glossary

Part 1 Strategy

1. REGIONAL AND STRATEGIC CONTEXT

1.1 The special quality of Monmouthshire countryside and historic towns and villages combined with its strategic position between the major South Wales centres and the Midlands / South West has caused the area to experience continued demand for growth and put pressure on existing resources. Whilst previous development plans had not considered a balanced population to be realistic, their policies attempted to restrain the rate of growth whilst reflecting the locational preferences of where people wish to live.

1.2 Today, the strengthening economy has fuelled additional development pressure and the buoyant housing market has increased demand to live in the area. The challenge for this Plan is to consider to what extent this pressure should be accommodated whilst preserving the special features, character and communities of the area and encouraging more sustainable forms of development.

1.3 The level of housing growth has consistently been high as forecast by successive development plans which has resulted in Monmouthshire having one of the highest rates of population growth in Wales. By contrast, employment and local services have failed to develop at the same rate despite a wide range of available sites and opportunities in the County. Instead, business investment is drawn to other locations in Wales with a higher profile or that receive financial support.

1.4 In the rural areas essential services such as local shops and public transport have actually been in decline and in the urban areas the town centres have struggled to remain competitive in the face of competition from other centres. The good road links to regional centres at Cardiff and Bristol and sub-regional centres at Hereford, Cwmbran and Newport allow easy car access within reasonable journey times.

1.5 Consequently, the established pattern of growth encourages a high level of population increase from inward migration without the local provision of essential services and jobs, thereby encouraging a reliance on the private car and increased journey distances. This must be reviewed to ensure that new development satisfies the Government’s objectives of reducing the need to travel and promoting transport choices that are less polluting and helping to make communities more sustainable.

2. GUIDING PRINCIPLES

2.1 This Unitary Development Plan is prepared within the Assembly’s policies for the operation of the planning system in Wales. Their objectives are:

• Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.
• Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone.
• Effective protection of the environment.
• Prudent use of natural resources.

This is backed up by nine principles of: putting people and their quality of life first, open government & public participation, sustainable development, respecting environmental limits, applying the precautionary principle, using scientific knowledge to aid decision making, the polluter pays and proximity principles, and taking account of the full range of costs and benefits.

2.2 With these objectives and principles in mind, and in the light of pressure faced by the County, three guiding principles have been prepared to underpin the strategy of the UDP:

• Sustainable Development
• Viable Communities
• Environmental Quality

Sustainable Development: The UDP should promote patterns of development that utilise access to existing infrastructure and services, particularly public transport. It will seek to reduce the reliance on the car by locating services within walking or cycling distance of more people and by making urban areas more attractive.

Development should enhance the viability of existing villages and market towns, and conserve the character of the countryside. Sustainable patterns of development will reduce the need to travel and achieve a balance between accommodating necessary growth whilst ensuring that future needs are not compromised.

Viable Communities: Improving the quality of life for all members of Monmouthshire’s communities is a fundamental concern. Encouraging more balanced communities by age and socio economic factors will be a focus of the UDP along with supporting the business sector and promoting a strong economy, including development that makes a positive contribution to the rural economy and farm diversification. This includes helping to ensure access to employment and services and opportunities for interacting with other people.

Encouraging a mix of uses can help revitalise the town centres. Achieving a sense of place is important to the social well being and identity of Monmouthshire residents and visitors.

The Welsh language is a component of the social fabric of communities in Wales. However, the Council does not consider that the use of the Welsh language is sufficiently intensive in communities in Monmouthshire to be taken into account for planning purposes, other than the visual presence of the language in signage, advertising and street signage (as noted under Policy DES3).

Environmental Quality: The plan will protect the special features of the County’s environment and nurture those that are distinctive to the locality. This includes landscape, townscape and the public realm, important buildings and structures. Habitats and wildlife should be protected and development must maintain and enhance biodiversity if it is to be sustainable.

High standards of design and amenity will be required to ensure that development is appropriate in its environment and responsive to all users. Safety, noise, pollution and accessibility are important considerations in ensuring development is acceptable to the community.

PLAN AIMS

1. To play a role in the planning and development of South East Wales;
2. To meet Monmouthshire’s development needs according to the principles of sustainable development;
3. To make best use of existing resources, facilities and infrastructure and not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;
4. To reduce excessive patterns of travel and make Monmouthshire more self sustaining;
5. To reduce social exclusion and promote balanced communities; and
6. To protect special features, character and amenity and promote local distinctiveness.

3. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 1996 - 2011

3.1 The priority for the UDP will be to accommodate development necessary to sustain the existing communities of Monmouthshire and planning growth more on evidence of need than speculation. The strategy resists taking a parochial view however, as pressure for development is unlikely to go away. Rather, an approach must be taken where Monmouthshire can help to play a role in meeting the demands of South East Wales. With this in mind, the County can absorb some development as a contribution towards providing opportunities for locational choice in the region. The strategy attempts to find a balance between encouraging development to support existing communities whilst also providing opportunities in locations that minimise the need for travel.

3.2 In recent years, houses have been built at a rate a little over twice that needed to accommodate natural changes in Monmouthshire’s population and the county has accounted for about 40% of the total population growth in the SE Wales region. Moreover, house building has not been matched by employment growth leading to high levels of out commuting, primarily by private car.

3.3 Perpetuating this pattern would be at odds with WAG advice on sustainable development, especially as Monmouthshire has relatively little brownfield land. It could also prejudice the regeneration strategies of neighbouring authorities. In addition, the rate of household formation in Monmouthshire is predicted to decline slightly in the 2006 – 2011 period. Taken together these factors suggest that the house building rate should be lower that that indicated by the WAG population projections (which the 2001 census suggests are, in any event, too high) and that the historic Structure Plan target should be reviewed.

3.4 On the other hand, relative to income levels, house prices in Monmouthshire are amongst the highest in Wales. Furthermore, the need for affordable housing is well above that which could be provided in the plan period. Whilst there may be many reasons for these effects, a sharp reduction in house building could exacerbate them.

3.5 If Monmouthshire is to make an appropriate contribution to sub-regional housing needs and potentially serious implications for the living conditions of local residents are to be avoided, it is not therefore realistic or sensible to seek to eliminate net in- migration within the plan period. Instead the plan aims for a more realistic reduction of no more than 50%, giving a minimum requirement of 240 – 280 houses per year. However, past performance suggests that house building rates may exceed target levels. Therefore to ensure that actual rates fall below 373 per year the target should be no higher than about 300.

3.6 Accordingly, whilst the UDP accepts the committed level of housing growth between 1996 and 2006 as established by the adopted Gwent Structure Plan and Monmouth Borough Local Plan it proposes a reduced target range of between 240 and 300 houses per year for the 2006 – 2011 period. It is considered that a figure within that range is likely to represent the optimal balance between the competing factors. However, the actual figure will need to take into account important matters such as landscape impact and ecological and archaeological factors that are best assessed on a site by site basis. This may make it necessary to review the initial target if it becomes clear that it could be achieved only by developing sites that would cause serious environmental harm.

3.7 The conservation of the countryside is supported for agricultural and other appropriate land uses, to protect or enhance nature and biodiversity and for the contribution that it makes to amenity and recreation in the region. With a third of the County protected by national designations (the Brecon Beacons National Park (outside the area covered by Monmouthshire’s UDP), the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, SPA, Ramsar Site, cSACs, pSAC, NNRs and SSSIs - see glossary for definitions) and much of the remainder identified as being Special Landscape Areas or areas of outstanding or high value under the LANDMAP landscape quality assessment, the opportunities for growth are limited. The UDP strengthens the protection of those elements making a positive contribution to the character of the Monmouthshire landscape and biodiversity, and seeks to carefully manage changes in the use of the countryside.

3.8 Therefore, a strategy of limited growth has been allowed for in selected villages and urban areas. Growth patterns will be expected to reflect a range of demands and markets in order to promote more balanced communities in terms of age structure, and in reducing disadvantage and social exclusion.

3.9 Most residential growth will be directed towards sites within or on the edge of the main urban areas – Abergavenny, Caldicot, Chepstow, Magor/Undy, Monmouth and Usk. First preference will be given to brownfield sites within the urban areas, but such sites are limited and some new allocations on greenfield sites will be required. These will be selected taking into account the environmental and other impacts that developing them would have. Housing development in the rural areas will be restricted. However, some new housing will be permitted in those villages that are relatively sustainable and where new development may help to retain existing facilities.

3.10 The pressure for other forms of development is generally less and there is not therefore the same need to adopt a policy of restraint. On the contrary, proposals that would make good use of the county’s geographical advantages and natural resources to enhance its economic base will generally be welcomed, provided they give rise to no overriding environmental harm and are of a scale that is compatible with the strategies of other authorities. Proposals that increase the range of facilities available to the county’s inhabitants and help to increase social inclusion/cohesion will also be welcomed, subject to similar qualifications.

3.11 For the most part, such development will again be directed towards the main urban areas with, in respect of retail and leisure development, priority being given to consolidating and enhancing the role of the four main towns: Abergavenny, Caldicot, Chepstow and Monmouth. However, a high priority will also be given to strengthening the rural economy, including proposals that make a positive contribution to diversification on farms. In the first instance such proposals should look to the reuse of existing buildings, but new build may be acceptable in some circumstances.

Part 1 - Policies

DESIGN

HOUSING

INDUSTRY AND EMPLOYMENT

SHOPPING

MOVEMENT

TRANSPORT PROPOSALS

CONSERVATION OF THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT

COUNTRYSIDE AND NATURE CONSERVATION

RECREATION AND LEISURE

TOURISM

COMMUNITY FACILITIES

MINERALS

WASTE PLANNING MANAGEMENT

ENERGY

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