DEVELOPERS building 33 homes at a former defence site in Malvern have written to the council for permission to change their plans.
We recently reported how Piper Group and Square Bay were granted permission to build the new homes at the former QinetiQ site in Malvern in 2020.
Now, though, the developers are back asking for changes to be made so the work can continue.
Under the new planning application, they are seeking permission to change the conditions attached to their planning permission due to the location of an electrical substation being changed.
When complete, 33 affordable houses will be built at the Barracks Store section of the former site including an apartment block.
The site is bordered by houses to the west, while on the east, the site has the playing fields of Malvern College and a small wooded area.
Planning permission was granted in December 2020, and this application is to formalise changes to the way the work will be carried out.
Plans for the site went before Malvern Hills District Council’s Southern Area Planning Committee on December 16 that year and were given the green-light by councillors, though concerns were raised over road safety near the site.
Malvern Town Council objected the plans over the density of the housing, having seen the site increase from 28 to 33 houses since outline approval was first granted in 2010.
Concerns were also raised about the site being on a "dangerous" bend and whether a pedestrian footpath nearby would be closed during the work.
Defending the plans, Joe Bennett, representing the applicants Piper Group and Square Bay, said the applicants have worked with officers to address concerns over the site, saying cycle storage and an improved footpath had been added to the site.
Permission was granted after a decade of successive plans scoping out whether the site was suitable and how many homes could be built.
The plans can be viewed in full at plan.malvernhills.gov.uk/Planning/Display/M/22/00804/FUL and plan.malvernhills.gov.uk/Planning/Display/19/01298/FUL
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