End of road for ten-home village plan

A plan to build ten houses by a Herefordshire village has been blocked by a government-appointed inspector.

A Mr & Mrs Harwood of Bradnor, Kington sought permission in February last year to build the ten on a paddock off Almeley Road, Eardisley south of Kington.

A scaled-down resubmission of a previously refused 17-home scheme, their outline application foresaw four three-bedroom and two four-bedroom homes and four more of unspecified size as self-build and custom-build properties, all to be sold at market rate.

Herefordshire Council ruled last July that the proposal was against county policy as it was outside the village’s agreed boundary, wasn’t earmarked for development in the neighbourhood plan, and that no special circumstances applied.

The couple appealed against this, leading to the appointment of planning inspector Oliver Marigold to rule on the case. Mr Marigold has now backed the council’s refusal.

“The site consists of open, greenfield countryside that is outside of the defined boundary, and which the neighbourhood plan therefore seeks to protect from development,” his decision says.

And while Eardisley is among smaller settlements in the county earmarked for development in the county plan, the group parish area “is on course to meet its housing target by 2031”, it adds.

The proposal would conflict with national planning policy, “that planning decisions should recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside”.

It would also “fail to provide a suitable mix of types of housing, [or] make an efficient use of land”, Mr Marigold said.