A plan to build a 25-home estate by a Herefordshire village has been unanimously backed by councillors.

The revised proposal to develop a field in Kimbolton off the main A4112, submitted by builders J Harper & Sons, was to include six affordable homes.

An earlier planning application had been conditionally approved by Herefordshire Council in 2018 but was then held up by a “moratorium” on any new developments adding to nutrients entering protected watercourses.

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With this and other obligations on the developer now resolved, the proposal was passed to the council’s planning committee to again decide on today (September 27).

Kimbolton Parish Council vice chairman Will Mears said that while the parish did not object to the plan, the proposed materials were “a bit bland and budget-like compared with the rest of the village”.

Local resident John Robinson told the committee that the proposal should be rejected due to what he said was inadequate drainage.

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But committee member Coun Bruce Baker said he was “enthusiastic at the time” of the previous application, and remained so, “especially as it now includes bungalows”.

The drainage and flooding issue “has been well covered by experts in the field”, he added.

Coun Steph Simmons said she was “very pleased at the planning obligations secured from the developer, particularly the affordable housing”.

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But she noted the lack of renewable energy sources proposed for the houses, “when we have declared a climate emergency”.

Local ward member Coun John Stone said it was “the most significant planning application in Kimbolton for many years, and is far better than the one previously approved”.

The committee passed the planning application without dissent.