Anger at environmental agencies as plans to build hundreds of houses in Herefordshire abandoned
The project was due to build 400 new homes in the north of the county
Herefordshire Council says it is stalling a homebuilding project because of environmental concerns.
A law requires to the council to neutralise the nutrients in the ground if it was to build in the wetlands near the river Lugg.
However, the council has said that unexpected changes to rules by the Environmental Agency mean they are unable to go ahead with the project.
The council’s cabinet member for planning, Cllr Liz Harvey said they are "disappointed" that the agencies "did not think to discuss their planned permitting changes with us, when these will have a significant impact on the work we have been doing".
She said: “We will renew our efforts to ensure that public and private mitigation schemes can come forward to enable much-needed development of housing and employment to progress.”