A BLOCK of flats in a Herefordshire town has had a fake sign attached as an ironic note to how it has been left.
Ex-mayor of Ross-on-Wye and councillor Daniel Lister shared a photo of the joke sign on the Facebook page Ross-on-Wye Noticeboard.
The sign that has now been stuck on the Riverview Flats in Wye Street is a fake tourism award that reads "Ross-on-Wye 2015-2022, fine example of urban neglect, erected by the mayor's trust".
"Sometimes you just have to laugh," said Mr Lister.
Member of the page Andy Hiley said: "They would be fantastic places to live, if someone was allowed to do something with them, but the not in keeping with the area is a bit pretentious, because they look like an absolute eyesore in an area of outstanding beauty, or that's what the phrase is anyway."
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Vandals previously targeted the Ross-on-Wye flats by smashing windows and people living in the area have called it a dangerous eyesore.
Gloucestershire-based developer DP Rollings first sought permission in July 2020 to extend the height and width, turning the four current flats in the 1970s block into six.
However, in March 2021 Herefordshire council rejected the application, saying its impact on its setting in the town and on its neighbours "would significantly and demonstrably outweigh its modest social and economic benefits".
Ross-on-Wye Town Council did not object to the plan at the time. It drew nine objections from residents, and five submissions in support.
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The developer then appealed to have the decision overturned, but it failed.
Following his investigation, planning inspector Samuel Watson described the building as "in a very poor state of repair, overgrown, (with) windows boarded up, and surrounded by fencing" – which "given its prominent position, is detrimental to the overall quality of the street scene and to Ross-on-Wye conservation area as a whole".
But while the proposal "would be an improvement over the existing situation", it "would also be taller than the existing (one) and include forward-facing gables", meaning it "would no longer form a sympathetic continuation of the adjacent residential terrace" and would instead be "jarring".
The inspector concluded: "Whilst it is unhelpful that the council changed their position, I do not find that the change was so significant as to be unreasonable."
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