A rejected five-home plan for the edge of Herefordshire town has now been given the go-ahead by a government-appointed inspector.

Ross-on-Wye firm Villamil Properties applied at the start of last year to build the five dormer bungalows for market sale on a two-acre field off Fernbank Road to the south of the town.

They were to share access onto Fernbank Road with another recent five-home scheme, approved in 2015.

RELATED NEWS:

But the field’s location just within the Wye Valley national landscape and near Chase and Merivale Wood, a designated local wildlife site claimed to be home to dormice and several bat species, proved controversial.

What are your thoughts?

You can send a letter to the editor to have your say by clicking here.

Letters should not exceed 250 words and local issues take precedence.

The application drew concerns from Herefordshire Council’s ecology, landscape and highways officers along with Ross-on-Wye Town Council, the Ramblers’ Association and nine residents, which convinced development officer Simon Withers to refuse the bid in July last year.

Villamil appealed against the refusal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, whose appointed inspector Tamsin Law has now overturned it.

OTHER NEWS:

Visually the scheme “would appear as a minor extension to the settlement” and “would not harm the scenic qualities” of the protected landscape, she decided.

She was happy with the five-metre buffer strip which the developers proposed between the houses and the woods, which are not ancient and are “unlikely” to harbour protected dormice.

Indeed the proposed tree planting, wildflower meadow creation and landscaping would increase the site’s biodiversity, she concluded – though approval for the scheme should be made conditional on these being carried out.