A plan for 16 new homes in a Herefordshire town has finally been approved, despite local opposition for years.
An outline permit bid to develop the one and a half acre paddock south of Ross-on-Wye town center with full permission to access Merrivale Lane was submitted in April 2020.
It proposes six two-bedroom houses, nine three-bedroom houses and one four-bedroom house, six of which would be ‘social’ units. Each would have two parking spaces.
The layout would “reflect the prevailing residential density within the site,” the application said. A sustainable urban drainage strategy for the ‘steep sloping’ site was also presented on the recommendation of Welsh Water.
It would also bring an £86,000 contribution to local services including education, transport, health and sports facilities.
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A previous proposal for ten houses on the same site was submitted in October 2018. But Herefordshire Council said at the time it would prefer a larger number and mix of houses, including affordable housing.
The smaller number of apartments would not have required any infrastructure contribution from the developer.
In December 2019, the council directed the applicant, Ruth Lilian McQueen Keohane Discretionary Trust, to withdraw the application or have it rejected.
Neither the earlier nor the current proposal has proved popular locally.
Eighteen objections, mainly relating to traffic and parking, were filed against the current bid, in addition to the 20 opposing the original ten-house plan.
Many said Merrivale Lane was already “a rat lane” used by trucks and farm machinery and local cars, but was often reduced to a single lane due to parking.
One said that increasing the number of proposed homes from the original site proposal “adds insult to injury”.
Ross City Council did not object, but requested that existing trees and hedges be preserved, which was made a condition of approval.
A detailed application for the program must now be submitted for approval within three years.