AROUND seventy people packed into the Wellington Heath Memorial Hall for their recent annual parish parish, where the main topic was the fear of traffic chaos on the Bromyard Road.

This is because a proposed new housing estate, which would put over 600 new homes to the north of Ledbury viaduct, would have its main or sole access point via a proposed new roundabout on the Bromyard Road.

Wellington Heath residents are particularly concerned because the main turn-offs to their village are on the Bromyard Road, just outside Ledbury.

Herefordshire Council's planning blueprint for the next two decades, the Core Strategy, is still be be adopted and is subject to public consultation until, May 21.

But both the housing estate and the new Bromyard Road roundabout are part of the Core Strategy proposals.

Protestor, Peter Constantine warned about "the potential traffic chaos that would be caused if the developer of the viaduct site was allowed to make the Bromyard Road a sole access point".

He said: "There was an unanimous vote against a sole access off Bromyard Road."

Local people are concerned that the addition of the Bromyard Road access point was a "last minute" addition to Core Strategy, which originally had main access to the estate off the Hereford Road, under the viaduct.

Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Liz Harvey attended the meeting in Wellington Heath and also spoke about local fears at the full Ledbury Town Council meeting of April 23.

She said the impact of possibly up to 1200 cars from the new estate could make the Bromyard Road/Hereford Road junction, under the railway bridge, "incredibly difficult".

Cllr Harvey also expressed concern that the new estate would feel remote from the rest of the town.

She said: "It is hard to think how this development would feel like a part of Ledbury."