A PARISH meeting has been called by Ledbury Town Council ahead of a planning enquiry over plans for a single access estate off the Bromyard Road.

Herefordshire Council originally opposed the proposal for the 625 Bloor estate to the north of Ledbury viaduct, following widespread public concern about the single access and the traffic problems this might cause.

But the county council has since backed down, leaving the town council to apparently stand alone.

On February 21 Herefordshire Council announced that they would not be defending the appeal. Any party wishing to submit defence papers in respect of this appeal was required to submit them by 5pm on the same day.

Ledbury Town Clerk, Angela Price, issued a statement on behalf of the town council this week, which indicates the town council still plans to battle on robustly.

It states: "At an earlier meeting Ledbury Town Council had taken the decision not to request full defence status for the appeal (known as Rule 6 participation), but that they would provide experts to and councillors to speak in defence against the appeal in respect of the single access road. The decision taken by Herefordshire Council not to defend the appeal presented a need for Ledbury Town Council to reconsider their position in respect of the Rule 6 Status.

"At a meeting of Ledbury Town Council, held on Thursday, March 5, councillors considered whether they should apply for Rule 6 status in order to fully defend the upcoming appeal by Bloor Homes against the decision of Herefordshire Council not to allow their application for the housing development on the Viaduct Site, Ledbury and if so how."

The statement adds: "Following lengthy discussion, the following three proposals were resolved. That Ledbury Town Council calls an emergency Parish Meeting to discuss the action/work on making third party submissions at the inquiry; that Ledbury Town Council take up Rule 6 Status in the inquiry and that this activity be deemed a priority, and that Ledbury Town Council seek a delay on the start of the inquiry to allow them more time to work on their case so as not to be at a disadvantage at the inquiry."

The Reporter understands that if the town council does take up Rule 6 status, it runs the risk of paying hefty expenses should it find itself on the losing side.

The Parish Meeting will be held on Monday, March 23 at 6.30 pm at the Feathers Hotel.

The town council "would welcome anyone who is interested in supporting them in their defence of the appeal at that meeting".

An application for Rule 6 status will now be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate and a working party will be set up to put a case together.

The town council would welcome residents or experts to join this working party "to ensure that the council offers the best defence possible".

The town council statement adds: "Due to the nature of the Rule 6 Status, Council will be appointing a solicitor and barrister to assist the town council in the preparation of the written evidence required by the inquiry process and to this end the Council has identified and set aside appropriate funds for this purpose."

Meanwhile, the mayor of Bromyard, Cllr Roger Page has blasted Herefordshire Council for not defending its decision to reject the 625 home estate in Ledbury.

He said: "What’s the point of a democratic planning committee when non-elected officials can in effect over rule the committee by not defending its decision by refusing to defend the refusal of the application at appeal. Put simply they have a duty to do so.

“There is a perfectly good case to oppose the appeal. The leader of the county council should step in and defend the democracy of the council.”