Planning inspector rejects 420-home planning appeal on carbon and landscape grounds

Last Friday, the planning inspector, on behalf of the secretary of state, rejected an appeal by developers Ian and Kathleen Griffiths and Gladman Developments to build on a 23.5-hectare site in Ledbury, west of the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). 

The developers hoped to overturn Herefordshire Council’s planning refusal, arguing that the local authority was unable to demonstrate a five-year housing supply – a national planning policy that requires councils to have enough sites ready for development to meet their housing needs for the next five years.