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A plan to build three “urbanising” houses at a scenic Herefordshire spot has been knocked back.

Local landowner Garnstone Farms applied in March to build the three on an acre of farmland near the hamlet of Ledgemoor, between Hereford and Kington.

The detached, three-bedroomed, two-storey houses with accompanying garages were each to give directly onto Ledgemoor Road, a public highway and cul-de-sac southeast of the village.

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Of “modest” design, they were to be finished in brickwork, white render and weatherboarding with natural slate roof tiles, and were to feature high thermal efficiency, air-source heat pumps and vehicle charging points.

There were three public objectors to the scheme. A neighbour, John Large said it was “not in keeping with the surrounding farmland” while the road to it was “not fit for more vehicles or traffic”.

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But there were no objections to the plan from official consultees or from Pyons Group Parish Council.

Despite this, planning officer Emma Aram concluded that it went against county planning policy of rural development, which discourages “unsustainable” new housing in open countryside.

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Although Ledgemoor lacks an official settlement boundary, the proposed site “does not lie adjacent to the settlement” – nor had Garnstone put forward reasons why its proposal should to be considered “under any of the exceptional circumstances” available to get round the policy.

It would also “urbanise the rural setting, and be out of keeping with the established settlement pattern of the area”, she ruled.

Full planning permission was refused. Garnstone can still appeal the decision.