A bid to refurbish and extend a prominent block of flats in a Herefordshire town has been thrown out by a government inspector.

The three-storey Riverview Flats sits at a prominent position on Ross-on-Wye’s river frontage but has lain vacant for over six years.

Gloucestershire-based developer DP Rollings first sought permission in July 2020 to extend the property’s height and width, turning the four current flats in the 1970s block into six, following pre-application guidance from Herefordshire Council.

However, in March 2021 the council rejected the application, saying its impact on its setting in the town and on its neighbours “would significantly and demonstrably outweigh its modest social and economic benefits”.

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Ross-on-Wye Town Council did not object to the plan at the time. It drew nine objections from residents, and five submissions in support.

The developer then appealed to have the decision overturned.

Following his investigation, planning inspector Samuel Watson described the building as “in a very poor state of repair, overgrown, (with) windows boarded up, and surrounded by fencing” – which “given its prominent position, is detrimental to the overall quality of the street scene and to Ross-on-Wye conservation area as a whole”.

But while the proposal “would be an improvement over the existing situation”, it “would also be taller than the existing (one) and include forward-facing gables”, meaning it “would no longer form a sympathetic continuation of the adjacent residential terrace” and would instead be “jarring”.

The developer had failed to prove the need to extend the building to make the scheme viable, he said.

But he did grant that it would not overlook or restrict the view from neighbouring properties. Nor, with suitable mitigation, would it harm the bats known to be in the building.

Along with its appeal, DP Rollings sought an award of costs against the council, claiming it had acted unreasonably by “significantly changing their position on the character and appearance impacts of the development, between the pre-application advice and the subsequent planning application”, the inspector said.

He noted the council’s initial position “was not wholly supportive of the scheme”, and considered that such pre-application advice “cannot prejudice the formal assessment of a proposal, or the decision reached”.

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Also dismissing the developer’s appeal for costs, he concluded: “Whilst it is unhelpful that the council changed their position, I do not find that the change was so significant as to be unreasonable.”

A previous bid by a different developer to renovate the block was withdrawn in 2019.