A RADICAL plan to annex Ross-on-Wye as part of a bid to avoid the need to build a new town near Gloucester, has been put forward by a prospective county councillor.

Former Forest of Dean District Councillor Thom Forester is proposing the annexation of Ross, which needs to find sites for another 3,000 homes over the next 20 years.

The Independent candidate for Drybrook and Lydbrook says in his election propaganda leaflet that “only a radical plan” can stop the “madness” of building a new garden town between the A40 and A48 which would “chaos and forever change the landscape and make-up of our Forest”.

“Herefordshire Council has dumped their housing allocation five minutes drive from Mitcheldean, putting huge pressure on already strained services,” Mr Forester’s leaflet reads.

“If Ross joined the Forest, then the Government and developers could no longer force us to grant permission for a new town out towards Gloucester.”

Mr Forester says Ross is on the right side of the River Wye and is effectively the Forest’s fifth town already.

“Given people’s dissatisfaction with Herefordshire Council, I would be surprised if there wasn’t quite a lot of support in Ross for the idea too,” he added.

Herefordshire Councillor Louis Stark (LD) said while the market town has strong links with the Forest, proposals to join the same council area are ‘probably non-starter’.

“As to the annexation being serious, I really don’t think the residents of Ross would like to leave Herefordshire,” he said.

“I’ve always said we should join Wales, we’d get a better deal,” he joked.

Kerne Bridge Councillor Simeon Cole, (C) said he had never heard such a suggestion before.

Another Ross councillor Chris Bartrum (LD) said he has knocked on doors in the town since 2005 and “nobody has ever brought up the suggestion of joining the Forest”.