A PACKED meeting at Ross-on-Wye Town Council last week saw members ‘strongly rejecting’ a proposal to build up to 156 homes on land at Marsh Farm.

During the public debate, Gwyneth Gill explained that the proposed speculative development at would cause serious harm to the residents of The Glebe and surrounding area.

She pointed out that there were serious questions about the reliability of the submitted drainage report, submitted by the developer Landra Developments.

Ms Gill added: “The report incorrectly identifies Severn Trent Water as the local drinking water provider when Welsh Water manages both water and sewerage services in Ross-on-Wye.

“The same report refers to plans for 250 dwellings at Marsh Farm, raising concerns that this application could be the first stage of a larger development.

“This development should not be determined in isolation while Ross-on-Wye lacks an up-to-date Neighbourhood Development Plan.

“Knocking down good houses to smash a main access road through the middle of a small quiet cul-de-sac is a dangerous precedent for Ross residents.”

Glebe resident Jan Nesaratnam said: “The proposed entranceway hardly meets the regulations for access. The farm is so named because it subject to flooding and this all ends in Brookend Street, which we know from recent issues has its own problems.”

Carole Soble, co-ordinator for the residents’ action group said: “To put our case forward we have to some independent evidence of the issues surrounding development at this site.

“We’ve taken action to constitute ourselves as a formal group and have employed the services of a consultant to give us an independent view.

“We’ve also been advised that this is a speculative planning application and has been submitted prematurely, because the new draft housing plan is adopted.

“And even before the consultant has written his report, he’s stated, ‘From a technical point of view, I can’t envisage how this scheme can be capable of servicing the proposed number of dwellings’, and I stress that the local planning authority to do all the necessary research before any decision is made.”

Cllr Linden Delves pointed out that the proposed development was outside the settlement boundary and added: “Herefordshire Council is currently creating a master plan for housing in Ross, but as it stands Marsh Farm is outside the established settlement.

Cllr Julian Utting said that the council strongly objects to this proposal due to the many inaccurate references contained in the developer’s report while Cllr Bev Pope pointed out that the town already has a sewage problem and it would be madness if this scheme is approved.

Planning committee chairman Cllr John Winder said that, as a consultee Ross Town Council ‘strongly objects’ to this proposal due to the strength of local feeling and the discrepancies in the developer’s report, a motion that was agreed by all members.

Cllr Ed O’Driscoll, ward councillor for Ross East, who didn’t speak publicly on the issue, stated that he’d written to Herefordshire planners requesting that this application is redirected to the elected councillors on the planning committee.