Homes planned for edge of city

A plan for one part of a huge ‘urban extension’ of Worcester which will see 150 homes built on the edge of the city has been put forward.

The homes, which will be built on the edge of the city on land known as Grove Farm off Bromyard Road, form part of the West Worcester Urban Extension which will see thousands of homes built to the west of the city.

Bloor Homes has submitted a ‘reserved matters’ application which shows details of the layout, scale and appearance of the 150 homes as well as landscaping of the 150 homes and, if approved by Malvern Hills District Council, will allow work on the development to start.

The developer already has permission to build the homes in principle but now needs the design and layout of the homes to be approved for work to progress.

The homes would be a mix of one-and-two-bed flats and two-to-four bed homes, 40 per cent of which would be marketed as affordable.

A statement by Bloor Homes included with the application said: “The proposed development will create housing choices and new amenity spaces for the new community whilst improving public access across the site and to the wider pedestrian network.

“The scheme delivers a range of family housing and much needed affordable homes in the area.

“The design and layout have been carefully considered to create a new built environment for the 21st century that will accord with the principles of high-quality design and good practice.”

Worcester City Council approved another Bloor Homes plan for 175 homes on neighbouring land to the east of Oak View Way off Bromyard Road in September 2018 following Malvern Hills District Council’s decision to grant principle permission for the 150 homes, which is now the subject of a reserved matters application, a few months earlier.

The University of Worcester had its plans to build 120 homes on its University Park site off Bromyard Road approved by the city council last year ending its decade-long ambition to build a £100 million science, health and enterprise hub.

The university bought the 27-acre Grove Farm site from supermarket giant Tesco in 2009 with the goal of transforming it into the 2,000-job creating hub but the plans never came to fruition after failing to attract enough interest from business partners.

The plans can be viewed via the planning section of Malvern Hills District Council’s website.

The application number is 21/00901/RM. Public consultation ends on June 12.