A plan to build two houses in a garden at a prominent spot within a Herefordshire village has been refused.

Nicholas Walker had applied for permission to build the two-bedroom semi-detached houses, with a further three parking spaces, on a 410-square-metre patch at the entrance to Meadow Drive, Canon Pyon.

The two would be slightly lower than those already in the modern cul-de-sac, “ensuring they integrate with the existing built context”.

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They were to both use the existing road access to the neighbouring property’s garage, and a new boundary hedge would screen them from the road.

But the scheme drew opposition locally, with Pyons group parish council putting “very strong” concerns over the safety of the road access, as well as over parking, water supply, waste water treatment and the increased housing density.

Herefordshire Council’s highways engineer also objected over road safety, while its ecology officer said it fell foul of “nutrient neutrality”, as the application had failed to demonstrate it would not add to pollution in local rivers.

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Among the 11 public objections, mostly from neighbours, Mrs M Wilson likened the scheme to “trying to fit a quart into a pint pot, to the detriment of Meadow Drive”.

Julie Cavanagh said it would “make our lovely little close look cluttered, unsightly and overdeveloped”.

Rose Sheppard questioned the need for the “very small” homes, as “properties regularly come onto the market in Canon Pyon”.

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And a Mr & Mrs Millichap said they had already seen the village nearly double in size, “yet there has been no improvement in sewerage works or road infrastructure”.

Others complained of limited and late notification of the proposal locally.

Planning officer Laura Smith accepted the highways and ecology concerns, and concluded that the plan “would fail to respond to the character of the local area and [would be] incongruous with the prevailing pattern of development”.