PLANS have been submitted to build four homes on the site of a haulage yard near Bransford.
The application seeks permission in principle to redevelop The Forge, off the A4103 at Bransford, near Worcester.
The site is currently made up of a concrete yard and two steel-framed buildings, which have a lawful use for a grazing and haulage business.
Planning agent Greenaway Planning says replacing the haulage use with homes would reduce the potential for noise and disturbance to neighbouring residents, as well as replacing HGV movements with cars.
SITE: The Forge in Bransford, outlined in red, from the air (Image: Google Maps/Greenaway Planning)
“There can be little doubt that the proposal represents infill development of an appropriate scale that would not result in any harmful incursion into undeveloped countryside,” it says.
The site sits between converted residential barns to the south and two homes to the north, with Bransford Golf Club to the east.
Although the land is outside the defined settlement boundary and lies within the designated “Significant Gap” between Leigh Sinton and Malvern, the applicant argues the development should be considered acceptable infill.
The planning statement says: “The proposed development is an infill plot within an established group of houses.”
It adds that the scheme would make use of previously developed land rather than extending development further into the surrounding countryside.
No detailed designs for the homes have been submitted at this stage because the application is for permission in principle.
This means Malvern Hills District Council is being asked to decide whether the location, proposed residential use and development of up to four homes are acceptable in principle.
If permission in principle is granted, further approval through a Technical Details Consent application would be required before building work could go ahead.
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The applicant says matters including the design of the homes, drainage, access, parking, ecology, trees and biodiversity could be dealt with at that later stage.
The existing gated vehicle access from the A4103 would serve the site, while the planning statement says public rights of way provide a pedestrian route towards facilities in Bransford.
Greenaway Planning argues the proposal would make effective use of an “underutilised” brownfield site while providing up to four additional homes.