Housing plan on Prince’s land passed

A bid by Prince Charles’ private estate to build 24 houses by a Herefordshire village has been given the go-ahead.

The 2.2 hectares of farmland land immediately south of St Weonards belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall, the heir to the throne’s 55,000-hectare estate dotted around southern England.

“The involvement of the Duchy ensures that design quality is paramount, local materials and skills will be used wherever possible, and control of change to the development will be maintained,” the application says.

Eight of the houses, with two and three bedrooms, will be for “social, affordable or intermediate rent”, the rest for market sale.

A parking strategy for the development aims to minimise parked cars from the main street, with 58 off-street parking spaces provided.

A footpath round the village primary school grounds, and away from the main A466, will connect the estate with the rest of the village.

According to the application, the plan was initiated in 2016 at the behest of St Weonards Parish Council – which did not comment on the final proposal – and was followed by extensive community consultation.

An earlier plan for the site, also for 24 homes but with different designs and layout, was approved in 2017 but lapsed three years later.

The only objection to the latest bid came from neighbour Colin Hewitt, who was concerned about noise from more frequent use of an adjacent sewerage pumping station due to the extra houses.