A TOWN council in Herefordshire has agreed to spend up to £4,000 on a survey it doesn't need to do.

Bromyard and Winslow Town Council voted in favour of setting the funds aside for a survey to see whether access to a proposed new housing estate would be safe.

The town council is largely opposed to the outline planning application for 120 homes on land between the A44, Panniers Lane and the Pencombe Lane.

And at a full council meeting on March 29, the majority of members voted in favour of commissioning an independent highways engineer report regarding access to site from the A44 Bromyard to Leominster road.

The survey would be used as part of the representation to Herefordshire Council to show if the access to the site is safe or not, but the applicant has already had to do a survey as part of seeking planning permission.

Coun Jonathan Lester, who voted against the proposal with Coun Lisa Law, said he couldn't see why the council should spend £4,000 of taxpayers' money on the survey, with issue one for Herefordshire Council to consider.

The proposal was taken to full council after the planning and economic development committee unanimously agreed to the idea.

Chair of the committee Coun Roger Page said members were concerned about access, claiming little had changed with regards to the access since a previous application for the site was refused.

Coun Page said the town council had made a similar move twice before and had "won", so it has a "track record".

He said that the town council going against the plans, submitted by Gladman Developments, was not "nimbyism" or that the committee wanted to stop new housing in the town.

Coun Lester said he wanted to speak against the idea of spending council money on the survey as it can already object to plans.

"I would very much err against the idea of spending money on independent reports.

"It's up to Herefordshire Council to look at the specifics of any application, and also listen to the concerns of the town council, parishioners, members of the public, whoever.

"But the idea that you're going to spend up to I have no idea how much, I assume it's a fighting fund, because you might not have to spend £4,000 for an opinion, but that's exactly what you're going to get – an opinion.

"It'll be a professional opinion, but at the end of the day it will just be an opinion for the local planning authority to consider.

"The danger here is you're going to spend a lot of taxpayers' money on some advice which probably won't do us any good."

He said nothing is guaranteed in planning, but his view is spending the £4,000 and not getting anywhere would be an "unnecessary" use of taxpayers' money.

He said points can be made rationally, without relying on expert opinion.

Responding to concerns, Coun Page said Coun Lester hadn't listened to him, saying the council had taken expert opinion before and had been successful, meaning it had a "proven track record".