RESIDENTS of Tidenham and Sedbury met developers last week to discuss the proposed building of 110 new houses in the area.

Representatives from Barratt homes met with Tidenham Community Council and members of the public to express their concerns over the plans, which will see both family and affordable homes built on 18 acres of land behind Wyedean Comprehensive School.

Councillors expressed their concern over increased traffic to the area, to be named Beachley Hill, and the strain on resources like doctors surgeries and drainage provision.

Those at the meeting also brought up the western side of Chepstow, within Monmouthshire County Council's jurisdiction. Those present voiced concerns about increased traffic flow on Hardwick Hill and the affect this may have on Chepstow's already poor air quality.

Official planning permission will be requested from Forest of Dean District Council in early November, but developers were ready to put before the community council a detailed plan of the sites layout, which includes open space, children's play areas and road access from the first Sedbury roundabout.

If given the go-ahead, the plot will sport 110 houses between two and four bedrooms. There will be a high number of three-bedroom houses to appeal to young families and 40 per cent affordable housing.

The houses meet the Forest of Dean's planning provision for the area, as the organisation needs to provide 5,000 more homes in the district by 2026.

Representatives from Barratts hope to tackle problems voiced against the proposal, which apparently found much opposition in the initial stages of public consultation.

Developers are working to combat areas of concern by commissioning a traffic impact report and an air quality report. The group also claim that local GPs will be consulted before the planning application is put in and a small contribution per house will be given to the district council for ringfenced library provision for the English side of the bridge.

An ecology study has also been undertaken on the privately-owned site, which showed bats, slow worms and dormice living in the area. As a result, plans have been altered to move the site further away from the hedge boundary.