A city technology firm has confirmed it will move its headquarters to a site that previously caused controversy.

Gtech’s owner has said he intends to relocate the firm’s HQ to Berkeley Way - a site which residents have opposed in the past.

Gtech, which makes vacuum cleaners and power tools, received planning permission to build on treasured green land at Berkeley Way, Warndon Villages in 2016.

But later the firm instead built a new 30,000 sq ft headquarters on Shire Business Park in Warndon.

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Now, Gtech has asked to vary seven pre planning conditions in the application and, in a letter with the application, the firm’s founder and owner Nick Grey confirmed the plans, saying: “After the application was initially rejected and with Gtech in a crisis situation with regards to space, Gtech purchased the Coomber building on Brindley Road as an emergency measure.

“My plan is to convert the Brindley Road site to our warehouse, relocating our headquarters to Berkley Way around the time the lease expires.”

Warndon Parish North city councillor Stephen Hodgson has called the application in, meaning it must go before the next planning committee meeting on November 21.

Cllr Hodgson said: “When (it was) proposed over three years ago there was considerable local opposition to the proposals. Therefore, with the amount of strong feelings that still exist over this I have called this to the committee to consider. The request to seek a variation of conditions appears to be a method to effectively extend the period before the commencement of construction to beyond the three years after the initial application to develop the site was granted.”

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Warndon Parish Council has objected, saying: “The council objects to this application on the following grounds - that the proposed gas supply installation does not comply with Section 56 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and therefore it does not constitute “commencement of development” of the earlier planning application, which was approved in 2016. On that basis, the application to amend the pre-commencement conditions, as proposed, should be refused.”

Mr Grey said in his letter, of September 25, that the firm was not yet in a position to expend resources to “discharge the onerous planning conditions”, so was submitting the application to “vary the condition wording”.

Mr Grey told the Worcester News: “We have being informed by planning experts this is merely a technical adjustment to conditions.”

He added: “It (the move) is not going to be immediate, we are not rushing it.”

A consultation on the application is due to finish today.

Anyone wanting to submit their view can do so by visiting worcester.gov.uk/planning-application-search, and searching for 19/00651/REM.