500 property development in Droitwich green-lighted after five year wait
ERIC Pickles MP, the secretary of state for communities and local government, has paved the way for a 500 property development in Droitwich by overruling a local council’s decision to veto it.
Developer Barberry has had the proposal – for 500 dwellings, a 200 unit care facility and a local centre – on the table for five years and it was the subject of an inquiry earlier this year.
Wychavon District Council had refused the proposed development at Yew Tree Hill but Pickles has overturned that ruling on the basis that the council had no reasonable grounds for refusing the application and had been unable to demonstrate a five-year local housing supply.
Patrick Downes, director of property consultancy Harris Lamb, which presented evidence at the inquiry, said: “We are obviously all delighted that the case we presented has been accepted by the inspector at the inquiry and, in turn, the secretary of state.
“We have all been working very hard on this case for a number of years and always believed that this was an appropriate location for development.
“Our belief in the case has been fully justified and the decision clearly demonstrates the Government’s intention to tackle the problems of housing supply and to ensure that the planning system plays its part in the economic recovery of the country.
“I am also delighted for Barberry who, together with other members of the Consultancy team, worked very hard to bring this opportunity forward. This project demonstrates that with hard work and dedication developments can be successfully promoted through the planning system.
A related appeal – covered by the same decision letter – gives Persimmon Homes outline permission for up to 265 properties on land adjacent to the Barberry site.
The secretary of state’s letter stated that although the developments were outside of Droitwich’s current development boundary, the National Planning Policy Framework’s presumption in favour of sustainable development trumped Wychavon’s local plan.
Development work at the site is expected to start in 2015
