COUNTY planners have rejected proposals to build up to six new homes with garages in a village near Kington.

Kinsey Hern’s wanted to develop land at lower Wotton Farm in Wotton Lane, Almeley.

But Herefordshire Council ha rejected the scheme because it went against local and national planning policies.

The outline plans for the proposed four to six barn style homes said they would complement the other nearby homes, according to consultants working on the scheme.

Consultants working on the scheme said the purpose-built homes will provide more suitable housing and are ore in keeping with the area.

“The large existing agricultural buildings will be removed improving the character and landscape of this immediate area,” the design and access statement reads.

“A landscaping and planting scheme can also be agreed as a reserved matter which will provide ecological and biodiversity benefits."

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The proposed homes and garages would have had a footprint of around 8611 sq ft.

But council officers said the proposal was far from the nearest settlement and represented unjustified residential development in an unsustainable countryside location.

The scheme also failed to have sufficient level of detail to accurately assess its impact on nearby listed buildings and lacked an ecological assessment.

The proposal site is also beyond the limits of the public highway and the proposed means of access relied upon the use of an unmade track.

And the development sits within the River Wye special area of conservation and no detailed foul water management strategy was put forward to show how any impact would be mitigated.