LAST autumn, Ledbury's mayor Bob Barnes warned that the town could end up with far more than the 800 new homes it was expecting, and now it appears he might have been correct.

Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Liz Harvey, speaking at a Ledbury Full Town Council meeting on April 23, said that a change of wording in the county council's planning blueprint for the Herefordshire, the so-called "Core Strategy", was "a very disturbing development".

The Core Strategy will set the legal guidelines for where new homes should be built over the next two decades.

Cllr Harvey said: "The change in wording used, regarding Ledbury's housing growth target which was previously 'around 800 houses' now states 'a minimum of 800 houses. This is a very different prospect and potentially has serious implications for future development, unless the Neighbourhood Plan defines the essential upper limit to development."

The Neighbourhood Plan is another planning blueprint for Ledbury, still to be adopted, which will serve as guidance alongside Core Strategy.

Speaking of the dangers of extra development last autumn, Cllr Barnes said: "This is why we need to complete our Neighbourhood Plan and not to include too many additional sites for housing . For example, if we included south of the bypass, which developers are interested in, we could end up with 2,000 new houses, instead of 800."

Public consultation on Core Strategy has been extended from May 1 to May 21.

Further details on, 01432 383357 or ldf@herefordshire.gov.uk