CONCERNS have been raised about the quality of housing proposed on a 400-home site in Leominster.

As previously reported, a reserved matters application for 414 homes at Barons Cross Camp has been submitted to Herefordshire Council by Keepmoat Homes.

However, Leominster Town Council has stated that the design of the homes is 'unimaginative, brutalist, monolithic and bland'.

They are requesting the provision of improved links from the site to Morrisons be included in the Section 106 agreement and the provision of a pedestrian crossing across Monkland Road (A44) to link the proposed and existing Barons Cross estates with Morrisons and Leominster.

They have also raised concerns about the increased vehicle movements into Leominster and have requested some funding towards the proposed link road in the town.

They also state there is a lack of community facilities in an area with social issues having already been

identified and that strain will be placed on local services such as doctor surgeries.

Leominster Civic Society, meanwhile, has said it is 'deeply worried' that outline permission was given for a scheme in 2005 which the group felt was below the standard expected for Leominster in the 21st century and the new scheme falls short of that again.

John Farrar, from Leominster Civic Society, said: "We are not against development of the site, indeed we have been critical of the repeated extensions to the original application.

"However, we need to see the present application in the context of both the quality of the development itself, which we are not impressed by, and the effect of 400+ homes in terms of local services, such as schools, health services, community centres etc.

"One wonders who these homes are aimed at. We have not seen a large number of new jobs being created for younger families who may wish to take up the housing. If people are commuting to work from Barons Cross, we can see serious problems with a large increase in traffic."

He added: "There may be a market of older people wanting to downsize out of other parts of the country, but this brings its own problems, particularly with health and social services. Many people already find that the local doctors' surgeries are extremely busy."