Residents of a Herefordshire town this week staged a protest at a developer’s blocking off of a public footpath ahead of a new housing estate.

They say EG Carter, which plans to build 44 affordable homes in Ross-on-Wye at the Hawthorne Field site, also known as Stoney Stile, is jumping the gun, claiming that Herefordshire Council granted a licence for the footpath closure before the conditions relating to drainage on the site were shown to have been met.

The council refused the planning application for the scheme two years ago, but the developer had this overturned by a government planning inspector last July.

Among the conditions set by the inspector was that “no development shall take place until a detailed drainage strategy has been approved in writing”.

One of the Hawthorne Field Action Group protesters, John Gregory, a former civil engineer who lives with his wife Lindy in a property by the site, said: “The major concern we have is flooding from rainwater.

“They plan to channel water into a ditch, but houses next to it will suffer, the water will run off onto Cleeve Lane, which flooded in 2007, and will wash pollutants onto the Wye flood plain.”

He has put these concerns to Welsh Water, responsible for the area's drinage and sewers.

The water company said: “We are continuing to engage with the local planning authority (Herefordshire Council) on the drainage arrangement for the site. 

“Our priority is always to ensure that any new developments do not have a detrimental impact on the existing services to our customers and to the local environment.”

Mr Gregory claims a water percolation test in the field, known as a BRE365 test, “has not been carried out to completion”, as claimed in a report by the civil engineering consultants employed by the developer, as it had only been done during dry weather.

A consultant employed by the residents said last month that “no calculations (based on the test) have been have been supplied in the public domain for us to review”.

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The site was earmarked for development in the town's neighbourhood development plan, but for a mix use of 15 houses, allotments and green space, ward and town councillor Louis Stark pointed out.

“Having now had this changed to a site containing 44 houses, it is imperative that we ensure that the impact of this development on its environs is minimised and manageable,” he said.

“This includes drainage and not increasing the pluvial flooding that residents living downhill from this site have to suffer when the weather is extreme.”

Meanwhile the closure of the footpath “forces schoolchildren to walk along the busy Archenfield Road instead, where pavements aren’t continuous”, Mr Gregory added.

 

EG Carter and Herefordshire Council were asked to comment.