Homes could still be built on former golf course

A controversial plan to build a new estate on a former city golf course could still go ahead after an appeal was launched by a developer.

Up to 50 homes could still be built on the former Tolladine golf course in Worcester despite two rejections by the city council’s planning committee.

After a second attempt to get planning permission was rejected by councillors in December, housing association Bromford has now launched an appeal with the government’s planning inspectorate which could see the decision overturned.

The plan has proved controversial since being put forward in 2020 with residents upset over the possibility of losing one of the city’s remaining green spaces.

Councillors rejected the plan for a second time in December last year insisting they would not be threatened into making a decision by the developer as part of a row over costs.

This came after the city council’s planning committee went against the recommendation of its own planning officers and rejected the proposals in June after hearing the land was some of the only accessible green space in the city for hundreds of residents.

Despite the rejection, Bromford then resubmitted the exact same plan which proposed a mix of one-to-four-bedroom homes which the housing association said would go a long way in providing much-needed affordable homes in the city.

The new plan, which according to Bromford, came with “significantly enhanced” landscaping which it said addressed the concerns raised by the planning committee in the first rejection.

A petition against the plan attracted more than 800 signatures with residents saying that if the plan went ahead, it would mean swapping priceless natural fields for pollution and congestion.

Campaigners also said the fields, next to a local nature reserve, are used regularly by families and young people, dog walkers and nature photographers who already have very few places left to go.”

Concerns were also raised by Warndon councillor Andy Roberts who was critical of applicant Bromford’s claims about an “oversupply” of green space in Warndon adding that it was “ludicrous” to draw lines through green space and did not want to see green space in Worcester “rationed.”