THE owner of rundown derelict flats on a gateway road into Ross-on-Wye says he is lodging an appeal after being refused planning permission to redevelop them.

Denver Rollings submitted plans to Herefordshire Council last year to convert and extend the eyesore Riverview Flats to form six two-bedroomed apartments, with new end stair cores and an extra storey.

But the scheme was rejected in March by Herefordshire Council planning councillors on the grounds of harm to the conservation area and nearby historic buildings.

Now Coleford-based businessman Mr Rollings, who has owned the flats for 14 years, says the planning inspector has agreed to look into his bid to redevelop the building, which he says has been "an absolute nightmare".

A residents’ group told planners the rundown building makes the tourist hotspot area beside the bandstand in the Caroline Symonds Gardens, Long Acre riverside walk and canoe launch site look ’degrading’.

It’s not the only dilapidated building there, either, standing opposite the long closed Riverside Inn, which has fallen into a state of disrepair after an application to turn it into a home was turned down in 2016.

The nearby Hope and Anchor pub has also been shut for a considerable time, but former town mayor Harry Bramer says he has now bought it and is sprucing it up with a view to reopening.

Ross West councillor Louis Stark urged the council’s planning and regulatory committee to approve the flats scheme last March, saying something needed to be done to improve the rundown gateway entrance to the town.

"It is a disgrace," he said. "You have an opportunity today to try and do something about it. You have an opportunity to at least remove one of the eyesores."

But the committee rejected the scheme by 11 votes to three after council chairman Cllr Sebastian Bowen said: "We do have a duty to get the very best designs and I think on this one we could say could do better, and should do better.

"We can work towards getting a much better one which would be more suitable to the area and more interesting architecturally."

Cllr Alan Seldon added: "We are in danger of saying something is better than nothing with this. We need to do better with this one."

The flats, which were once used by migrant fruit pickers who worked on local farms, needed to be extended from four to six, raising the height of the building by nearly 3m, to make them habitable and financially viable, according to the applicant.

Residents who back the plan have also complained about youths breaking in and sleeping in the grounds.

Meanwhile, the town council reportedly paid for a valuation of the closed Riverside Inn earlier this year, which hasn’t traded for many years.

The premises have been independently valued at £225,000 according to a council report, but they say they are not involved in discussions with the owner, Mark Dew, who also owns the Malt Shovel pub in Ruardean.

Herefordshire Council says the situation over the pub site is under review by its enforcement team.

In 2018, they ordered the owner of the inn to smarten up its appearance after complaints about its "dilapidated" condition.

Eleven months ago, the premises were even searched as part of a major police investigation that led to a Forest of Dean man being charged with terrorism and drug offences.