AN appeal has been lodged after a plan for 44 affordable homes on grazing land on the edge of town was turned down.

More than 200 people signed petitions opposing the development of the Wye Valley AONB greenfield site between Ross-on-Wye’s Middleton Avenue and Hawthorne Lane, while planners also received more than 70 objection letters.

EG Carter and Co Ltd builders of Gloucester have now appealed to the planning inspector over the proposed development of rented and shared ownership homes for the Fortis Living housing association.

Residents who oppose the plan, which includes the demolition of stables, claim it is over-development, with the emerging Neighbourhood Plan proposing only 16 homes for the 1.5 hectare site.

And they have also raised traffic safety fears over the nearby Ashfield Primary School.

The plan was rejected by Herefordshire Council planners exactly a year ago this month on the grounds that 100 per cent affordable housing breached its conditions of mixed use development.

But a report on behalf of the appeal says the affordable housing situation is worsening in the county, with 1,328 people on the waiting lst, “and will not be addressed unless more housing is delivered to meet the demands of all parts of the community.”

“These homes are for real people in real need now. We consider the need is only likely to increase in light of the existing and future severe economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic,” it says.

The report also cites the council’s “lack of five-year housing land supply”, and claims the “proposals are not particularly dense” and “reflect the pattern and character” of existing neighbouring houses.

Concerns over traffic safety and drainage had also been addressed with council officials, claim the developers.

But many neighbours oppose the scheme, including the 89 members of the Hawthorne Field Action Group, who have called for the Neighbourhood Development Plan to be fully adopted following a referendum last year.

According to the NDP the land should be used for a development of up to 16 houses, allotments and a green space.

Geoff Healey, who lives nearby, said before the council refused planning permission that it was beyond belief that residents had to even object to the plan as the access would be extremely dangerous.

“The traffic in Middleton Avenue is single file at the best of times but at school collecting times there are cars parked everywhere,” he said.

“This spills into Archenfield Road which is a death trap with all the traffic cars, lorries, farm vehicles.

“What has to happen for anyone to take notice, a child getting hurt or worse?”

Fellow objector Philip Angus added: “Additional traffic will only serve to exacerbate this congestion, to the extent that it will represent a major road safety hazard,” he said.

“Serious injury to, or the death of a child is wholly unacceptable. On this issue alone, this planning application must be rejected.”