An application to build five new, four bedroom, detached houses at land off Fernbank Road, Ross-on-Wye, which was approved by Herefordshire Council’s planning committee in November, is still proving contentious to local residents.

The site forms the lowest part of a larger broadly rectangular agricultural field which is within the Wye Valley AONB.

At the time of the application many letters of objection were received. These referred to several matters of concern including the fact that it is a greenfield development in an AONB.

They also referred to the planning history of the site which had been the subject of two previous appeals in 1985 and 2004 against refusal of a residential development.

Planning officers recommended the application for approval as they did not consider that it represented major development. They also felt that the proposed dwellings were of a high design quality.

The local ward member, Councillor Phil Cutter, spoke on the application at the planning committee meeting but he was unable to vote.

He said that the development was not welcomed by the existing local residents and he supported their concerns, although he noted that some 900 homes were required to be built in Ross-on-Wye under the Core Strategy.

He said that account needed to be taken of the fact that the site is within the Wye Valley AONB.

Councillor Cutter is a Member of the Wye Valley AONB Joint Advisory Committee.

As the local ward member he was also given the opportunity to close the debate. At this point he reiterated that the development was not ideal and he remained concerned about overlooking and the elevation of the plots.

The application was approved in accordance with the Case Officer’s recommendation, with amended conditions.

Letters written to the Ross Gazette after the application was decided in November 2015 questioned why the AONB had changed its position to having no objections, when in previous applications it stated: “the site occupies a critical point in the foreground of this very attractive view which is part of the overall setting of Ross. Its development would entirely change the character of this AONB.”

Andrew Blake, an AONB officer, told the Ross Gazette that they had to accept and acknowledge that there would be some impact but it would be relatively small on the AONB as a whole.

He said:?“It is a relatively small development on the edge of Ross and is not going to be significantly detrimental to the AONB.”

He added that the AONB would not want to see further development in this area as this would then start to encroach into the AONB. This is what earlier developments would have done if they had been given the go-ahead, he said.