25-home scheme for village is back

A plan to build 25 homes in a Herefordshire village has been put forward for a second time.

Markden Homes is once again seeking permission (application number 243175) for the details of its scheme at Perry Field, Wigmore northwest of Leominster, for which outline planning permission was granted in October 2023.

It proposes a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroomed mews, semi-detached and detached houses and dormer bungalows, of which ten would be classed as affordable.

Markden previously made a “reserved matters” application for the site in December 2023 but withdrew it the following February.

By then it had drawn 13 objections, including from Wigmore Parish Council which had concerns over drainage, landscaping, biodiversity and the houses’ “off-the-shelf standard designs”.

Last June, Herefordshire Council senior planner Adam Lewis wrote to Markden’s agent listing several changes needed to make the proposal acceptable.

These covered the affordable housing element, the estate’s layout including the need to keep to within the designated village boundary, the houses’ design and materials, and pedestrian and cycle access to the neighbouring Kings Meadow, as well as the scheme’s landscaping, drainage and heritage impact.

The revised proposal seeks to meet these, including by leaving undeveloped a wider area to the east of the site, where an attenuation pond will be constructed.

An accompanying design statement, dated February 2023, still refers to “a prospective residential development of 64 private dwellings”.

Comments on the application can be made until February 27.