Plans for a 350-home estate to the east of Hereford “cannot be supported” in their current form, the senior official responsible for how they are decided has said.

The proposals for land south of the A438 Ledbury Road immediately east of the city, next to the Lugg Meadow nature reserve, have drawn widespread opposition from both experts and the public.

Herefordshire Council’s principal planning officer Ollie Jones has now written a five-page letter to Savills, the property services firm acting for the developer STL Group, setting out numerous reasons why the application, “in its current form, cannot be supported”.

RELATED NEWS:

These include the sustainability of the site, its transport connections with the city, the estate’s impact on the wider landscape and on wildlife, as well as unaddressed concerns over flooding.

“Some issues identified may be insurmountable through additional information,” Mr Jones adds. “These concerns were previously raised at the pre-application stage.”

The Hereford Times' Our Precious Meadow campaign is highlighting why, for the good of the county, we think this plan should not go through. Read our other articles here.

Unless Savills agrees to an extension in which to address these points, or withdraws the application completely, it “will be determined in its current form, with a recommendation for refusal”, Mr Jones’ letter warns.

Savills was asked how it intends to respond to this.

OTHER NEWS:

Mr Jones’ letter also confirms that the council rejects the offer in the application of land to the east of the site for a new primary school, saying it “would not be looking to bring forward a new 1FE [one-form entry] school in this location”.

He earlier wrote to the Land East of Hereford Action Group saying it was “likely that a further round of public consultation will take place”, given that the applicant was “looking to submit additional information to address the issues raised”.

He said it was likely that the application will be determined by the planning committee of county councillors rather than by officials, “given the high pubic [sic] interest”.