A PLAN to build five houses in the hamlet of Glewstone has been passed by a government-appointed inspector despite locals’ many concerns.

Richard Williams applied in July 2022 for permission to build the three- and four-bedroom houses along the main road through the small village.

Several residents objected to the plan, including at a meeting of Marstow Parish Council where concerns over traffic and road safety, water supply, drainage, loss of ‘first-class’ farmland and lack of local amenities were raised.

Herefordshire Council’s planning officer Gemma Webster ruled that the spot would be ‘unsustainable’ and added: “This will mean an almost complete reliance on the private car to access daily services.”

The visual impact of the ‘elevated’ houses on the Wye Valley Area of Putstanding Natural Beauty (now the Wye Valley Natural Landscape) , coupled with the loss of a hedgerow, was also given as a reason for refusing the scheme.

Mr Williams then appealed against the refusal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, whose appointed inspector B Philips has now found in his favour.

The inspector judged the scheme to be ‘proportionate’ and noted that the council’s own local plan identifies Glewstone as a locally sustainable settlement where housing is appropriate.

“The Government’s broader objective is to significantly boost the supply of homes,” they pointed out.

Visually, the houses would occupy a gap between the hamlet’s two hubs, and from a distance “would appear as a logical extension of the linear highway-fronting built form”.

The claim that the village has low water pressure “is not substantiated”, there would be “limited” increase in traffic and pedestrians, while the loss of farmland would be ‘minor’, the inspector added.