VILLAGERS who have seen planning approval given for more than 100 news homes breathed a sigh of relief as the latest application for ten homes was refused.

Planning approval was sought for ten new homes on land at Castle End, Lea, near Ross-on-Wye.

The applicant decided to appeal against non-determination on May 3, as a decision had not been published within eight weeks since the plans were submitted.

The plans went before Herefordshire Council's planning committee and they decided they were minded to refuse the application, and it will now go to appeal.

Chairman of the Lea Action Group, Stephen Banner, told the committee: "If this application is approved then it will bring the number of proposed dwellings in Lea with full or outline planning permission to 110- 2.5 times the Core Strategy's projected total of 43.

"Admittedly Core Strategy Policy RA2 says that 43 should be viewed as a minimum figure. I doubt, however, that it can be legitimately interpreted as sanctioning an overshoot of 67 dwellings and would question how sustainable such an overshoot can be."

The committee heard plans for 14 homes on the site had been refused by the council in 2015, and the appeal against this was dismissed the same year.

Ward member for the area, Cllr Harry Bramer, said: "I have not received a single letter of support for this application, not even from the applicant or applicant's agent. The mood in Lea is simply that Lea has done enough."

He raised concerns about road safety issues on the busy A40, which residents would need to cross to get to the primary school. He said the road was only going to get busier as 100 homes have been approved in Lea, 100 in Weston-under-Penyard and 400 in Ross-on-Wye.

Cllr Bruce Baker said it is unfortunate that the council's lack of five-year housing supply led to a village having to suffer from overdevelopment.

Cllr Anthony Powers said he was one of the councillors who challenged the wording of the Core Strategy. He said: "Some of us spent up to 12 days challenging this word of minimum with no success on behalf of Herefordshire. We are now waking up to some of the problems."

Planning officers had recommended the plans for approval and told the committee they needed to give evidence-based reasons for refusal.

The plans were refused due to concerns for highway safety.

Mr Banner said he was pleased with the decision but added: "This is not a done deal. This will now have to be assessed by the planning inspector."