A long-delayed plan to build over 50 social housing properties on the edge of a Herefordshire town can finally go ahead.

Solihull-based Living Space Housing applied in 2019 to build 54 homes (originally 58) for Platform Housing on a hectare and a half of farmland at the junction of Cholstrey Road and Ginhall Lane west of Leominster.

Ranging in size from one to four bedrooms, they would incorporate “a simple local palette of red/brown brick or render, red or grey roof tiles and chimneys”, the application said.

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There were no formal objections from consultees. But the plan was held up when Herefordshire Council was told it could only approve new building developments which could demonstrate they would not add to water pollution in the protected river Lugg catchment area.

This has now been resolved by the developer agreeing to buy £88,900 worth of “phosphate credits” from the council, which go to meeting the cost of new pollution-absorbing wetland at nearby Luston.

The developer will spend a further £47,180, index-linked, on children’s play and other work at the linear park further along Ginhall Lane, known as Ginhall Green.

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The council’s housing development officer Tina Wood earlier welcomed the mix of housing tenures in the scheme, “including rented, shared ownership and rent-to-buy” along with three accessible homes “to meet an identified need”.

There were 20 public objections to the original 2019 consultation, and a further one received last year.

Leominster town council backed the bid but with concerns over drainage and loss of hedges. It thought that the volume of objections meant the proposal should be decided by the county planning committee, but this was rejected.

Among the 24 conditions with the planning approval are extensive requirements covering drainage and also the retention, installation and maintenance of landscaping.