A NEW town council working party will fight Ledbury's corner, as the town's Neighbourhood Development Plan enters its examination process with Herefordshire Council.

Once adopted, the Neighbourhood Plan will have the power to direct where homes should be built in Ledbury, and where they should not, and it will be a sister document for Herefordshire Council's own planning blueprint, the Core Strategy.

But Ledbury is already facing far more than the 800 new homes allowed for in the Core Strategy, thanks to speculative planning applications by developers, in the absence of a completed and adopted Neighbourhood Plan.

The total number of new houses set to be built could already be in the region of 2000 homes.

A town council spokesman said: "The town council is aware that major developers will be looking for flaws in the plan. A town council working party, bringing together councillors and resident experts in this field, is being reinstated to make sure that enough information is readily available to handle any questions or challenges made during the final phases of plan adoption."

The decision was made at a town council meeting on August 23.

But developers have already been asking questions about town boundaries.

The spokesman said: "The council is already aware that Bovis’ legal opinion is that the settlement boundary is contrary to national planning policy. The way forward on this has not yet been confirmed but will be determined by the inspection.

"Councillors are keen to be ready to defend the plan and have drawn up a brief for the working party."

Before the plan is adopted there will be a referendum. At this stage all registered voters in the town will be able to vote on whether or not to adopt the plan.

Town council chairman, Cllr Nina Shields said: "We appreciate the work done by the most recent working party and this has provided a good basis. We are aware that some parts need the evidence to be readily available to strengthen our position.

"We are also aware that some of the town’s needs have not been covered by the plan. We will be asking the new working party to identify any amendments or additions that we should be looking to make once the Neighbourhood Development Plan is adopted."

The plan, as it stands, can be viewed on Herefordshire Council’s website at: https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/13965/neighbourhood_development_plan_april_2018.pdf