A plan for four “sustainable” houses for retired or disabled people in Hereford has been refused for a number of reasons.

Nick and Tara Sharma had proposed extending King’s Crescent along a 160 metre-long finger of unused land inside the curve of the Hereford-Worcester railway line north of the city’s station.

Incorporating air-source heat pumps and solar panels, the dormer bungalows were to have “the highest standards of thermal efficiency”.

Local amenities would be “in easy walking distance” including by bike and scooter, in an area “well served” by public transport.

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But the plan was criticised by Herefordshire Council’s highways, waste management and ecology officers.

The scheme would double the number of homes using the stretch of private road, so exceeding the permitted number, they said. And the road extension would lack a turning head or other turning space for emergency and refuse vehicles.

The proposal that residents would take their bins to the end of the adopted road for collection was “not acceptable”, as this would be a trip of 170 metres for the furthest bungalow – judged “unlikely to be an accessible solution for future residents”.

The designs also lacked sufficient parking space for wheelchair users, at odds with the scheme’s intended residents.

And by adding to the waste water entering the river Wye catchment, the homes would require a habitat regulations assessment, yet information on sewage connection and surface water treatment was lacking.

The homes would also affect neighbouring properties – some of whose owners were among the 13 to object to the plans.

One neighbour pointed out that the land had been sold in 2019 as “amenity land”, for a guide price of £10,000, with no mention of its development potential.

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