A PLANNING application for 11 homes in Malvern Link has left Malvern Hills District Council with a bit of a problem.

The applicant, David Watkins, has been elected to the council since the scheme was submitted, and is well known to most of the councillors on the southern area development committee.

David Murray, head of the council development control department, said that Mr Watkins had been elected as the Conservative councillor for the Morton ward at the election on May 3, and was also the agent for Conservative councillors.

This means that most members of the development control committee would have to declare an interest and abstain from the debate and vote, leaving the committee without a quorum.

"This is the first time I can recall this happening. There are five non-Conservative councillors on the committee but we need six members for a quorum. But the applicant is entitled to a decision on his application," said Mr Murray.

The proposals to convert 213 and 215 Worcester Road into two town houses and three flats, and build six new town houses behind the Edwardian properties, has prompted objections from 60 people. The council received six letters, including a petition.

The committee agreed to defer this application to its next meeting in June. The problem of how to create a quorum has been passed to the Malvern Hills District Council legal department.