Leominster Town Council 'strongly' opposes housing estate

How the 118-home estate could look

A town council has "strongly" opposed a planned 118-home estate.

The bid for the homes in Leominster, Herefordshire, had already drawn more than 150 formal objections, mostly highlighting concern about road access.

The highways department at Herefordshire Council has "found the layout broadly acceptable", the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

But Leominster Town Council members have opposed the plan amid residents' concerns over roads and other matters.

Richard Stewart, consultant with Cerda Planning which assembled the bid, said: "We understand highway safety is a concern. We have done a detailed scoping exercise which shows the surrounding junctions could cope."

Gary Stinton, who lives near the site earmarked for land south of Barons Cross Road, was among those to comment on plans, saying of drainage: "The run-off goes into my house, which is in [the developer's] map of the catchment basin."

But Mr Stewart said any water would be retained on site.

At a subsequent town council planning meeting, councillor Jenny Bartlett said there could be no alternative access to the site as there was "no chance" of the planned southern relief road around the town being delivered ahead of the estate.

Councillor Alan Williams said: "It would be right to have the road first", adding he was "dead against" the proposal.

Trish March, ward councillor for the area in question, said she had asked for the decision to be taken by the county's planning committee rather than by officials, adding there had already been a "magnificent" local response to the planning consultation.

Councillor Jacqueline Herschy described the proposed area as "a greenfield site that's already full of biodiversity", saying "we have identified brownfield sites that should be developed first".

She added: "The flood risk is obvious."

The motion to "object strongly" to the proposal was passed by three votes to none, with two councillors abstaining.