Developer loses bid to revamp empty riverside block in Ross on Wye

The government inspector said the plans (inset) would "be an improvement" but did not suit the setting

A developer's bid to refurbish and extent a vacant block of flats has been thrown out by a government inspector.

Developer DP Rollings planned to refurbish the Riverview Flats, which is at a prominent position on Ross on Wye's river frontage.

It appealed after Herefordshire Council rejected its plan to turn the 1970s block from four to six flats.

But government inspector Samuel Watson said a taller block would be "jarring".

The three-storey block in Wye Street has been empty for six years and Mr Watson said it was in a "very poor state of repair" and the proposal would be "an improvement on the existing situation".

However, the planning inspector said the developer had failed to prove the need to extend the building to make the scheme viable, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Gloucestershire-based DP Rollings first sought permission in July 2020 to extend the property's height and width following pre-application guidance from Herefordshire Council.

But the council rejected the application in March 2021, saying its impact in the town "would significantly and demonstrably outweigh its modest social and economic benefits".

Mr Watson also dismissed the developer's appeal for costs based on the council "significantly changing their position" between its pre-application advice and on the subsequent application.

"Whilst it is unhelpful that the council changed their position, I do not find that the change was so significant as to be unreasonable," he said.

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