PLANS for six affordable homes on a new development in Weobley have been scrapped over concerns about the viability of the site.

Outline planning permission was approved in 2015 for 40 homes on the eastern fringe of the village - Bearcroft is immediately to the left of the development.

The reserved matters application put before Herefordshire Council's planning committee heard the number of homes had been reduced to 39 and a pair of semi-detached dormer bungalows had replaced two two-storey terrace houses to mitigate potential impacts on a bungalow in Bearcroft.

The planning meeting heard that the six affordable homes had been removed from the application due to viability.

Developers said while the planning application had been running they had spent more money than anticipated on exploring options and costs for dealing with contamination on site; a sustainable and acceptable drainage strategy; and a highways strategy.

They commissioned property consultancy Alder King to explore viability of the site which was sent to the District Valuer Service, which confirmed to Herefordshire Council that they agreed the proposed scheme was not viable.

They established that the developer could either afford £375,000 for six affordable homes or the same amount of money in Section 106 contributions.

They spoke to the parish council who said they would prefer the financial contribution to improve amenities in the village rather than the affordable homes.

The meeting heard that affordable homes had been approved on land at Pepper Plock in the village.

Cllr Jim Kenyon said he could not support the application as he did not agree with removing the affordable homes aspect of the site.

Cllr Anthony Powers said: "My ears tend to twitch when viability gets raised by developers. Often it is a backdoor way of cramming more things into the design or onto a site than, generally speaking, what is acceptable."

But he said in this instance he believed it was not the case.

The application was approved by a majority of the committee.