A DECISION to hold a parish parish poll about a proposed major new estate in Ledbury has to be taken again - after time ran out on the first one.

People in Ledbury agreed, four months ago, to hold the poll after concerns were raised that single access to the planned 625 home estate planned by Bloor, to the north of Ledbury viaduct, could cause traffic chaos on the Bromyard Road.

But, yesterday, Ledbury parishioners had to be asked the question again after a procedural delay meant the original decision ran out of time.

Town clerk, Angela Price said: “The Town Council held a Parish Meeting on March 4, when parishioners decided to request a Parish Poll in order to challenge whether the proposed access to the viaduct site meets with the requirements for satisfactory access. Unfortunately, due to a change of staff and elections, which in turn put the council into ‘purdah’, the council were unable to request the Parish Poll within the 14 to 25 statutory days following the decision.”

But the need to hold a second meeting has been criticised by a former town councillor, who was an elected councillor when the decision for a parish poll was actually made back in March.

Former deputy mayor, Tony Bradford said: “It makes you think they don’t know what they are doing. It is chaos.”

Although Ledbury Town Council was in a state of ‘purdah’ shortly after the first poll decision, there were no elections held at all in May for the town council after not enough people decided to stand, and the ten candidates who put their names forward automatically got in for the next four years.

Mrs Price, who was not town clerk at the time of the first meeting, said: “Ledbury Town Council need to restart the process by holding a Parish Meeting in order to ask residents to vote in favour of a Parish Poll in respect of the following question: “Policy LB2: ‘Land North of the Viaduct’ of the Herefordshire Local Plan – Core Strategy 2011-2031 requires ‘provision of satisfactory vehicular access arrangements.’ This site is proposed to contain at least 625 dwellings and three hectares of employment land. The developer for this site proposes vehicle access arrangements solely via the Bromyard Road. Do you consider this provision to be satisfactory?’”

The revised meeting was set to be held at 7pm last night.