PLANS for a major housing development near a Hereford city school will be decided by a planning inspector.

Gladman Developments wants to build 120 homes on land off Hampton Dene Road – near the Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School.

The developers claimed the site offers a good location for new homes and is highly accessible within the application they submitted in October.

However, the scheme only came before Herefordshire Council’s planning committee yesterday.

Therefore, Gladman has made an appeal on non-determination grounds because a decision had not been made within the 13 week statutory time frame from when the application was submitted.

This means that the final decision will now go before a planning inspector.

The application itself was yesterday debated by councillors in principle, with the majority stating that they would refuse it because of the visual impact on the landscape.

“It is a sensitive area that has a particularly character and is historic,” said Councillor Felicity Norman.

“It seems to me unacceptable that the area will be developed.”

Councillor Polly Andrews added: “It is regrettable that there is an application for one of the approach roads to Hereford.”

“How it can be described as sustainable just because you can walk to school, I do not know.”

For more on this story, see next week’s Hereford Times.