PLANNING applications on two neighbouring plots that could have seen eight news homes being built in Whitchurch have been refused.

The plots involve land adjacent Delburne Farm while the second is adjacent to the Stoney Hill Industrial Estate.

The site adjacent to the industrial estate, comprises of an irregularly shaped land parcel that forms part of a wider agricultural field which is found opposite two dwellinghouses.

The application for the construction of four dwellings together with associated works including the creation of a new vehicular access.

However, the site is currently in agricultural use with rural a character and is outside the Settlement Boundary and therefore the proposals are encroachment into the open countryside.

Herefordshire planners believe that this parcel of land would be lost to urbanised development causing permanent harm to the national landscape.

The planners agreed that although outside of the settlement boundary, the site is not isolated in terms of its distance from other dwellings. It forms part of a cluster of existing development including residential properties, the Stoney Hills Industrial Estate and the adjacent petrol filling station.

The site is also reasonably well related to established residential development to the south and south-east, including the Gilpin Way development.

However, planners raised concerns over the proposed architectural approach and stated: “The proposed bungalows are of a standardised design with brick to the principal elevations, incorporating limited architectural detailing that does not generally reflect local building traditions and would feel more in keeping with a market town urban extension.”

The proposed site on land adjacent Delburne Farm is an irregularly shaped parcel of land that is used for grazing and abuts the grouping of 10 dwellings at Gilpin Way.

The planners observed that the housing units were too large and are not ‘wayside cottages’ and as such the large footprints would need to be cut harshly into the steep local topography landscape.

The planners stated: “The development is further encroachment into the open countryside being beyond the villages settlement boundary and would obscure part of the landscape access to the Wye Valley National Landscape Area via the footpath network which passes directly adjacent to the site.”

Planning officer Josh Bailey concluded: “The benefits of the proposal, including the delivery of four dwellings and associated economic and social benefits, would be significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the adverse impacts identified.”

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