Issues remain over five-home plan

A plan to build five new houses on an already developed site west of Hereford has been approved, despite concerns over access to it.

Local firm Sockett Properties had applied to build the five at Conifer Walk, on the south side of Kings Acre Road, the A438.

A previous application by the same developer for three houses a the site was approved in 2016 and had since lapsed, while a later more ambitious proposal for eight houses was withdrawn in August last year.

Breinton Parish Council objected to the latest plan on grounds of road access, drainage and waste collections.

A public objection on behalf of a Mr and Mrs Prosser said the couple “largely own” the “narrow, poorly surfaced and unlit” Conifer Walk.

“There is no obligation upon our client to maintain it to any recognisable standard and the council cannot rely on them doing so,” the letter said.

“There is no mechanism available to the council or the developer under the current proposals which will ensure that access is delivered in a safe and acceptable manner.”

If passed, the road would see “significant increases in traffic without any party being responsible for its condition or maintenance”, their letter added.

The council’s highways engineer did not object, but suggested the developer “should satisfy themselves that they have a right of access over the private access road to the site, [which] is not publicly maintained or adopted”.

With an existing bungalow on the site to be demolished, there would only be an increase of one house over the previously granted permission, compared to which the increase in traffic would not be significant, planning officer Simon Rowles pointed out.

The proposed four three-bedroom and one four-bedroom houses would be “not entirely in accordance” with the area’s housing needs. But they “would still contribute positively towards local housing supply”, he concluded.

On the issue of bin lorry access via the narrow road, “in a worst-case scenario, bins could be collected from King Acre Road”, Mr Rowles added.

“Whilst highly undesirable, your officer is not persuaded that this amounts to sufficient grounds to withhold permission.”