25-home village estate near Leominster is back on

A plan to build a 25-home estate by a Herefordshire village is to finally be decided on next week – five years after it was first approved in principle.

In 2018, builders J Harper & Sons, based in Leominster, Brierley Hill and Tewkesbury, submitted a detailed plan to develop a field in Kimbolton near Leominster, off the main A4112 near the grade II listed Stockton Cross Inn, to include four affordable homes.

At the time, Herefordshire Council’s planning committee backed the plan but wanted several resolved via a so-called section 106 agreement with the developer.

Before that could be completed though, the council was told it had to cease any developments that would impact on the protected river Lugg catchment, unless these could demonstrate “nutrient neutrality”.

The council has since made efforts to unblock this protracted and economically damaging moratorium on building, including its recent “phosphate credit” scheme, into which the firm will now pay £41,160.

A report for next week’s committee says a further £107,000 is being sought from the developer for local schools, £72,492 for transport measures, the local NHS trust seeks £13,212, while further smaller amounts will cover sports and open space, libraries and bins.

But the section 106 agreement securing this “is not finalised” and should be made a condition of any approval, planning officer Chloe Smart recommended in her report.

The previous permission has meanwhile lapsed in the intervening five years, since when the developer has also made changes to the planed housing mix, affordable housing share (to six) and drainage arrangements.

Councillors on the county planning committee will have to factor these into their decision at the meeting next Wednesday (September 27).