Double appeal under way over village homes plans

A developer’s bid to overturn two refused housing plans in a Herefordshire village has begun.

Richard Williams had made two separate planning applications in July 2022 to build a total of seven traditional homes on two nearby plots in Glewstone, southwest of Ross-on-Wye.

Following a meeting with local residents, Marstow parish council raised concerns that the new homes would worsen the local water supply, and also over the loss of “first-class” farmland, the extra traffic and the lack of amenities in the village.

Herefordshire Council planners refused both bids in October, saying there were more sustainable locations for housing, and that such schemes proposed and already built in the wider Ross area were “not representative of sustainable development”.

The two plans would also “have a detrimental impact on the character of the lane and associated landscape harm to the Wye Valley area of outstanding natural beauty [now the Wye Valley National Landscape]”, the council said at the time.

Mr Williams then appealed against the refusals to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, and now two different planning inspectors have been appointed to rule on each.

Lauren Fongauffier began assessing the application for the larger, eastern site on June 6, while Joanna Carter began looking at the two-home application to the west on June 11.

A likely decision date has not been given for either case.