Developer speaks out over village homes plan

A developer looking to build more than 40 homes in a village has spoken out to “reassure” residents worried about speeding cars causing accidents.

Up to 42 homes could be built in Fernhill Heath as part of plans by developer William Davis Homes on just under five-and-a-half acres of fields off Dilmore Lane in the village between Worcester and Droitwich.

The developer has now responded to a number of concerns raised by residents who say they already face cars travelling at “frightening” speeds and fear building more homes would only make the problem worse.

William Davis Homes said its assessments had found that speeding and extra traffic would not be made worse by building the homes.

A spokesman for the developer said: “An independent transport assessment was conducted, alongside a traffic safety audit, and concluded that there would be no adverse impact on highway safety or capacity from the traffic generated by the proposed development.

“The proposed new entrance to the site will be off Dilmore Lane and within a 30 miles per hour zone.

“A speed survey found that the average speed of vehicles along Dilmore Lane is 31 to 33 miles per hour.

“Analysis of collision data has shown that in a five-year period between 2016 and 2020 there was one collision on Dilmore Lane, about 200 metres south of the proposed site access.

“This collision was classified as ‘slight’ in severity.”

Dozens of objections have been made against the plan by residents in Fernhill Heath who say building the new homes would ruin a “beautiful area with lots of green and wildlife.”

A spokesman for William Davis Homes went onto say that the land had already been selected as a ‘preferred’ site for development in the draft South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) review.

“The plans for Fernhill Heath will help the local council meet its future housing needs,” the spokesman added.

“There will be a broad range of house types and sizes, following feedback received from the pre-application consultation. The development includes 40 per cent affordable housing.”