Plans to expand Hereford to the northwest have taken a step forward, though uncertainty remains about a wider plan to extend the city.

A bid to build 350 homes has been put forward for a 25-hectare site, currently farmland to the north east of Huntington and bounded by Three Elms Road (the A4110), Roman Road (the A4103), and the Yazor brook.

This site was to be part of the so-called Larger Three Elms project of up to 1,200 homes, put forward in 2016 by the Church Commissioners for England, who manage the Church of England’s property assets.

Herefordshire’s key planning document, the core strategy, published in 2015, foresaw these would “facilitate the construction of the adjoining phase of the Hereford Relief Road” – that is, the bypass.

But according to the new planning application, submitted by the Church Commissioners’ agent Lichfields, Herefordshire Council’s decision of February 2021 to cancel the bypass “stalled the decision on the Larger Three Elms application”.

“With the bypass now in abeyance and uncertainty remaining about precisely what alternative measures will come forward instead, the Larger Three Elms planning application remains undetermined,” it says.

But it argues that the planned first phase of the larger scheme should now go ahead anyway.

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According to indicative figures in the outline bid, the 350 would be split between 24 one-bedroom homes, 73 with two bedrooms, 158 with three, and 95 with four bedrooms.

These are indicated on the application as being for market sale. But a Church spokesperson said that “up to 35 per cent” would be affordable homes in accordance with council policy.

“The affordable housing provision, along with any other developer contributions, will be secured via a Section 106 [planning gain] agreement [with the council],” he said.

The core strategy sets a “target” of 35 per cent of homes in the development to be affordable.

Hereford Times: an aerial view of the sitean aerial view of the site

The masterplan for the site shows the homes split roughly equally either side of a new linear park running from Roman Road to the Yazor brook, and also includes a transport interchange off the Roman Road.

The scheme would require a new roundabout on Three Elms Road south of Huntington Lane, and a new junction on the Roman Road between Tillington Road and Bovingdon Park.

A local consultation on the plan in November last year “has directly informed” the current proposal, the application adds. But the website associated with this appears to have been taken down shortly afterwards.

The outline application, numbered 222138, can be commented on until August 21.