West Midlands village eyesore to make way for five new homes
Five homes will be built on the 0.62-hectare site in Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire.
An ‘eyesore’ building will be demolished and replaced by five new homes.
The Homestead in Lower Broadheath will make way for a mix of bungalows and houses “inspired by the Worcestershire farmland”.
Five homes will be built on the 0.62-hectare site, which currently includes a house and outbuilding accessed by a shared private drive off Crown East Lane.
On Wednesday evening, Malvern Hills District Council’s northern area planning committee was told The Homestead has been a “problem site” for 14 years.
A neighbour said the development would remove an eyesore, “fit nicely into the plot and add some much-needed bungalows into the village”.
“I hope you will vote in favour of this,” he told councillors. “If not, it will drag on another 14 years and affect us all.”
Committee chair Dean Clarke read out a statement from ward member Daniel Walton, who couldn’t attend the meeting.
Cllr Walton felt the development could set a “dangerous precedent” as the site is in the “significant gap” between Worcester and the village.
He said the tight layout of the design could have an “urbanising effect” on the area.
Lower Broadheath Parish Council had also raised objections, expressing concern that the project amounts to “overdevelopment” and would have an “overbearing impact” on neighbouring properties while encroaching on open countryside.
Permission in Principle (PiP) for an alternative five-home development on the site had previously been approved by a planning inspector.
At Wednesday’s meeting, planning officer Lee Walton said if the latest application was refused, developers could follow up the PiP with plans for “five awful executive homes dotted across the site”.
Cllr Clarke said the site is surrounded by high hedges and “the alternative is worse”.
Cllr John Michael said: “I’m in favour of this scheme. It certainly improves what is basically an awful site and I think it’s far better than the original [plan]. This lends itself more to a rural setting.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the scheme
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