CAERPHILLY’S Assembly Member has called for the Welsh Government to withdraw a controversial plan setting out the future of housing development in Caerphilly county borough.

Hefin David's request follows considerable criticism of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP).

Adopted earlier this year by the local authority, the document lists brownfield and greenfield sites among those earmarked for houses.

A lengthy public consultation process on the subject recently closed.

But a review by the Welsh Government last month raised several concerns about the LDP, including a “lack of evidence” to support development on certain sites, and it exceeding WG government projections by 6,750 houses.

In response to the report, Mr David is now calling for the plan to be withdrawn, pending the creation of a Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for the whole of South East Wales.

“Caerphilly councillors decided to put this plan to the public for consultation because they felt that they had no other alternative," he said.

“Without a plan that meets housing demand, they saw that even more green-field sites, across a much wider area would be vulnerable to speculative planning applications, which would be won by developers following costly appeals.”

Calls for the LDP to be withdrawn have been shared by others, including former South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle, Green party campaigner Andrew Creak and Blackwood ward councillor Nigel Dix.

Campaigners from The Keep Caerphilly Mountain Green group and Gwern Y Domen Conservation group have also welcomed the request to withdraw the LDP in its current form.

In his letter to the Welsh Government cabinet secretary for environment and rural affairs, Lesley Griffiths, Caerphilly’s AM has called for more affordable housing and improved planning process.

“The planning process must also be fit for purpose. Local Development Plans do not provide for effective planning strategies as they are mismatched across local authority boundaries,” he added.

“This is why I would like Caerphilly’s plan to be withdrawn. Developers should understand that we need to take more time over our planning processes and this is reflected in the criticism by Welsh Government.

“It is no wonder that we are seeing over- development in some areas, with disconnected transport strategies.”

A spokeswoman for Caerphilly County Borough Council added: “The recent consultation provided an opportunity for all interested parties to formally record their views, and the council will take full account of those comments as part of the process.”