Residents of Ross-on-Wye are mobilizing to oppose the construction of a 70-bed care home near the St Mary’s Garden Village development. The Meadow Action Group, led by Julia Batty and Debbie Hall, has actively gathered opposition to the plan, drawing on their success in thwarting a McDonald’s restaurant project in the same area two years ago.
The group argues that the proposed care home would encroach on valuable meadowland that serves as a natural sanctuary within the garden village. They cite previous assurances from the developers that this land would remain undeveloped, and criticize the deterioration of the area since the initial approval of the St Mary’s Garden Village project.
Following a public consultation, residents submitted a petition with over 200 signatures to the developers, urging them to uphold the original planning agreement and explore alternative locations for the care home. The controversy raises issues of preserving green spaces and the integrity of the community’s original planning vision.
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Edenstone Group, the developer behind St Mary’s Garden Village, asserts that the land earmarked for the care home was never designated as part of the public open space and that there were no guarantees against its development.
As the planning application faces 11 published objections, Herefordshire Council is set to make a decision by June 16.