ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTISE HELPS SECURE PERMISSION FOR NEW HOMES IN HEREFORDSHIRE

Environmental consultants at Harris Lamb have worked closely with Bromford Housing Association to help it secure permission for 42 new homes at a disused poultry farm in Hereford.

Bromford submitted plans earlier this year for a mix of two- and three-bedroom homes at the Roman Road site, which will be available for rent and for sale through part-buy, part-rent shared ownership.

As part of its application, the business secured the services of Holly Smith, Director of Environment, and her team to identify areas of ecological sensitivity at the site and develop strategies to provide a solution to mitigate the impact the development would have.

Holly said: “Last year, the Government laid out the terms of its new Environment Bill, which will further advance requirements on Local Planning Authorities to require developers to take account of, and address biodiversity impacts.

“This requirement means that developers must ensure that all submitted applications demonstrate that these impacts have been taken into account and that steps have been made to protect it, and with that in mind, Bromford asked us to work alongside them to develop an ecologically sensitive scheme design.

“We carried out a range of protected species at the site over the summer to inform the evolution of the layout and minimise impacts. We worked with Bromford and their appointed technical team to develop the scheme layout including how to achieve ecological enhancement on site.”

Richard Pitt, Senior Planning Manager at Bromford, said: “We are delighted that these plans have been secured, enabling us to bring affordable homes to this very desirable part of the country.

“The guidance and expertise that Holly and her team provided was invaluable in educating us about our responsibilities, the steps we needed to take to fulfil those, and how best to demonstrate that we had taken all of the necessary factors into account for the local authority.

“We look forward to starting work on the scheme in the near future,” he added.

The plans form part of Bromford’s ambitions to increase its programme of building affordable homes, with a goal of building 14,000 new homes across the West Midlands and West of England by 2028.