Ninety-home scheme refused to protect village views

The 90-house scheme was turned down by planners over fears it would alter the character of Great Witley village

Plans to build a new housing estate in Worcestershire have been rejected.

Bloor Homes had applied for permission to build 90 homes on land south of Stourport Road in Great Witley, and officers recommended it for approval.

Members of Malvern Hills District Council’s northern area planning committee said they were unhappy about the size of the development, however, and the lack of school places in the area.

Bloor Homes said the site was considered a sustainable location.

Councillor Paul Cumming, speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, said a previous housing scheme for the same site was turned down on appeal because it was outside the village development boundary.

“That hasn’t changed,” he said.

He added that the council had proposed part of this current site be built on, but that this had not been approved yet.

“What we’re being asked to agree to is concreting over a beautiful sloping field with great views of the Abberley hills just over the way and destroying an attractive environment,” Mr Cumming said.

Bloor Homes said the scheme would have seen a network of footpaths to connect the houses to local services

He said he felt 90 homes was more than the number of homes required in Great Witley and that allowing such a development would change the character of the village.

Jonathan Bryan, from Bloor Homes, told councillors Great Witley was one of the most sustainable villages in the district.

“The location of the site provides a unique opportunity to provide a new village green and an enhanced green link between Bowen’s field, the primary school, the village hall and the surgery – all key community facilities,” he said.

The developer would also have created a new network of footpaths to link the development with existing local services, he added.

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