Dozens of local residents crammed into the council chamber for the meeting of the Ross-on-Wye Neighbourhood Plan Development Sub Committee on Thursday, July 4th.

There were not enough seats to accommodate them all and several found it very difficult to hear and follow what was being discussed.

The main items on the agenda were discussions around the best way to protect the Chase Hotel and the area known locally as the 'horses field', or the field off Hawthorne Lane.

This has been called Stoney Stile in NDP, the which meant that many of those at the meeting said they were unaware of its inclusion in the Neighbourhood Development Plan until a planning application was made.

Mary Deaville, whose home overlooks the site, asked that it should be given Local Green Space protection which would mean that it could not be built on, but as this site has been identified as a possible site by Herefordshire Council she was told by the consultant, Jeff Bishop, that this wouldn’t be advisable.

Another resident, Brian McCormack said he has ‘possibly the best view of this field’ and would like to stop any houses but realised it was better to agree to the possibility of 15 rather than trying to prevent any development and then find that the developers could be given permission for 50. He told the Ross Gazette: “I don’t want to be a NIMBY, I’ll take the 15.”

However, as access to the site is restricted it was suggested that as long as Ashfield Park School is still at the site no development at Stoney Stile could go ahead.

Joyce Thomas spoke on behalf of a group of residents who want to save the Chase Hotel as a ‘destination/leisure asset for Ross.’

She proposed a fourth option for the group to consider which would be to designate the unregistered land at the site as Local Green Space to protect the area "which is of particular importance to Ross.”

A group of residents who are called Save The Chase 2019 were also persuaded that to give weight to their opinions they needed to write as individuals and not as an anonymous group.A member of the NDP committee Councillor Chris Bartrum said that as the town had paid for professional advice they would be foolish not to follow it.The committee voted in favour of the proposal, although there were three votes against.Joyce Thomas told the Gazette that she intends to speak at the Town Council meeting on Monday, July 8th and said: "The fight goes on."See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here