Shop and six flats plan for city

Plans have been put forward to knock down a Hereford house and replace it with a shop and six flats.

The neighbouring Royal National College for the Blind (RNCB) and developer Venns Lane Ltd have put forward the bid for the site on Venn’s Lane at the junction with Campbell Road to the north of the city.

It is currently occupied by a 1960s-era house, described in the application as “of no architectural or historic merit”, within the college grounds.

The RNCB’s former home is the Grade II listed Victorian building on the other side of Venn’s Lane, now used by Hereford College of Arts. But there “is no meaningful inter-visibility” between this and the proposed development, the application says.

The new building would be of red brick with sections of grey render, and a flat roof to reduce its visual impact. Each of the six first-floor flats would have two bedrooms, and would be naturally lit.

There would be eight car parking spaces by the convenience store, along with extra parking along a strip between Venn’s Lane and the existing flats to the north.

“Retaining a number of the existing trees bordering the site will maintain the privacy of the nearby residential properties and act as a noise buffer between the development and Venn’s Lane,” the application said.

A blanket tree preservation order (TPO) covers the site, but an arboricultural report makes the case for removing several of the trees.

It proposes keeping a “fine” large lime (linden) tree beside Venn’s Road, but says other trees and shrubs are “scrappy, overgrown and in some cases likely self-seeded with remnant of an over-mature, once residential garden”.

The college was reported in 2019 to be in financial difficulties, and has put in place a business recovery plan. It was rated “good” in its latest Ofsted report earlier this year.