Objection raised over new housing development

Sarah King, from Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, said "awful" water quality levels could be made worse by the new development

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has objected to plans to build a 350-home estate on land bordering a nature reserve.

The developers, STL Group, have requested permission to build the dwellings, as well as a farm shop, cafe, employment workspaces and potentially a primary school.

The site is situated east of Hereford, next to Lugg Meadows Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and ecologically important floodplain meadow.

Sarah King, nature recovery manager at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, said it was of huge importance that areas like Lugg Meadows were protected.

She told the BBC that the trust had major concerns about a housing estate being located so close to the SSSI.

"There are a number of areas we are concerned about, one of those is the impact on the river."

She continued: "The water quality levels are quite awful and the impact of a new housing development could make those even worse.

"There will be pollutants from the surface water that might be entering the water courses and impacts from additional sewage from the number of houses."

Another concern is that more people would be visiting the Lugg Meadows.

It would also see an increased number of dogs and cats, noise, light pollution and traffic in the area.

The trust believes the development would have a significant impact on the flora and fauna of the meadows.

In particular, the increased disturbance would impact the breeding curlew, which are already threatened with local extinction and the subject of a conservation project at the site.

The land is also a natural floodplain, something which is incredibly rare with only around 1,200 hectares of the habitat left remaining in the UK.

Speaking in September, a spokesperson for STL Group said it was "excited by the possibility of utilising the renewable energy being generated at their nearby anaerobic digester plant to deliver sustainable, low-carbon heat to this new development".

They added: "Other renewable energy sources will be embedded in the proposals."