Hereford ’ s little bit of England ’ s green and pleasant land is fast disappearing under a deluge of new houses .

The city is about to be swamped by almost 7,000 new houses to be built by 2031 – and that is before as many more again are scheduled to go up along the eight mile route of the proposed Western by-pass paid for by the levy per home imposed on the developers . That could take the current population of 65,000 up to closer to 100,000 . That ’ s a real game-changer . Mind you , the cynics say the chances of the cash strapped Herefordshire Council finding the £ 200m to build the by-pass and a bridge over the Wye is somewhat remote .

House builders already see Herefordshire Council as a soft touch and are in a furious race to be the first to get the roofs on the hundreds of houses work has already started on and this time it is the northern side of the city being hit . Many property owners are fearful the glut will make their own homes unsaleable or at best sold at a loss . Bloor Homes have started work on 450 houses on fields on Roman Road opposite the Racecourse entrance while on the nearby A49 opposite Holmer Church Crest are clearing the hedgerows to make way for 45 new properties . Redrow are well on the way to completing dozens of new homes on the site of the old Whitecross High School in Baggally Street creating a traffic nightmare for local residents .

The latest developer to ride into town is Taylor Wimpey hawking plans for 136 units on 12 acres of land next to the Bloor site on Roman Road and 90 on a nearby field accessed from Canon Pyon Road close to Three Elms junction , leaving owners of a row of fine roadside houses fuming at the prospect of unwelcome neighbours at the bottom of their gardens . On the edge of the city large estates are currently being built at

Withington and at Bartestree . Meanwhile , the Church Commissioners , the biggest landowners locally have plans for 1.200 new homes on the fields between Kings Acre Road and Roman Road , but ironically a new church or Christian centre don ’ t figure in their plans

Such is the rush to build , that the planners approved a small development of a dozen units on the northern edge of the city without access to a sewerage connection until building work was virtually completed and a deal was done with a nearby property .

Herefordshire Council is sitting on a good size chunk of farmland in the Three Elms / Canon Pyon Road area and will no doubt soon be cashing in itself on the housing bonanza . For landowners it ’ s a gold rush as house builders fork out millions to get their hands on prime land to fulfil the council ’ s target . Sadly , bachelor farmer Brian Price of Holmer House Farm , next to Holmer Church who sold his fields to Bloors for a sum believed to be at least £ 15m died of cancer before

From this to this …… to this .

he had a chance to spend a penny of it . The scale is akin to the New Town developments of the 60 ’ s rather than the natural organic growth Hereford has experienced over the centuries as a market town . But Government says the UK needs 240,000 new homes a year and have charged local councils with achieving their set target – 18,000 for Herefordshire . The big question everyone is asking : Is the local infrastructure – roads , schools , hospitals , water , jobs – capable of coping with such a vast influx of newcomers needed to buy a mega cache of houses ? Others ponder whether there will even be enough overseas workers to pick the strawberry crop when Brexit is completed .

The Cotswolds is already overcrowded with the retired rich from London and the South East and the high flying celebrities who treat it as a select club . Running out of options , many are eyeing up their chances in Herefordshire following in the footsteps of Liz Hurley ( Ledbury ) Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame ( Ross on Wye )

Monty Don ( Leominster ) and John Challis ( Wigmore ) to name just a few . A flood of pensioners , cashing in on the sky high prices being paid for a pigeon hole in London and the South East could solve the developers ’ dilemma , even if it meant creating nightmares for the hospital and local medical professionals .

George Thomas

COST OF A HOME SOARS

The cost of a house in Hereford has shot up 9 % since 2010 and buyers now face paying £ 246,346 for an average property in the city … that is ten times the average wage .

Prices in the decade up to 2007 , and the global financial crash rose from £ 60,000 to £ 183,000 . But many experts are saying the upward trend of 9 % now being quoted is not sustainable , especially with the glut of new homes being built locally .