A plan to turn a Herefordshire farm building into four homes has brought stiff local opposition - again.

Mykola Vasylyshyn applied (number 242206) to convert a former hop kiln at Upper Barrow Farm, Suckley by the Worcestershire border under what are known as permitted development rights, which allow such conversions without full planning permission.

Mr Vasylyshyn last year bought the holding, then part of a mixed farm, and says it had not been used since.

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The conversion of an adjoining barn into three more homes was approved in July despite numerous local objections.

An accompanying structural report concludes the hop kiln building is also suitable for conversion into dwellings.

The scheme would use the existing road access and would not give rise to issues of flooding, contamination or noise, while rooms would have adequate natural light, the application says.

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Each property would have a small garden, enabled by removal of a small lean-to, and nine parking spaces would be created.

The application is an amended resubmission of a bid which Herefordshire Council planners refused in August due to two of the units being smaller than national space standards.

Upper Barrow Farm when still in agricultural useUpper Barrow Farm when still in agricultural use (Image: Google Street View) Cradley & Storridge parish council said that even with the changes, “the site is totally unsuitable for residential development”, being in what it called “a commercial/industrial complex” rather than a farm.

It submitted evidence, not published, of “large articulated lorries loading and unloading vast quantities of timber into (a) large, refurbished barn” alongside.

Residents of the homes would also be reliant on cars, using “a narrow road in poor condition”, councillors said.

Neighbour Lucinda Fosh claimed the continued timber storage amounted to “a potential fire risk”, heightened by “the very low water pressure in the area”.

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Rachel Coxcoon said that given the “very poor” condition of the narrow road, the developer should contribute to new passing places along it.

And Gerry Ronan said the scheme would “impede… a right of way that is in regular use by ourselves and other dog walkers”, and would not be “sympathetic to the many listed buildings in the vicinity”.

The council has set a target date to determine the application of October 22.