Supermarket, care home and nursery plans refused

Plans to turn a farm into a new supermarket, care facilities and a nursery have been turned down.

The proposals would have seen land at Porthouse Farm off Tenbury Road, Bromyard, turned into an Aldi or Lidl.

A 75-bedroom intensive care unit with communal facilities and a 45-bedroom "extra care facility" for older residents would also have been built, but the town's sole GP surgery said it lacked the capacity "to provide the care that these extra patients would deserve and need".

Herefordshire Council rejected the plans on multiple grounds, including concerns over pollution, traffic, and harm to local character.

As part of the plans put forward by Birmingham-based Opulent Property Group, an unoccupied two-storey building already on the site would have been converted into a children's nursery.

Planning officer Ollie Jones said it would cause "substantial design, landscape and visual harm, particularly along Bromyard's sensitive northern edge".

Bromyard and Winslow Town Council said it was "very concerned" about the loss of industrial land in the town, which it said "should be safeguarded for business and employment use".

It also gave rise to questions over highway safety, while the nearby 24‑hour industrial operations "would expose future residents, many of whom would be particularly vulnerable, to significant adverse effects arising from both noise and air quality", Jones said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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