A ONCE-REJECTED plan to build a new care home on the edge of the city has attracted more than 170 objections.

The 70-bed care home could be built on land known as the ‘Donkey Field’ off Northwick Road in Worcester if plans are backed by Wychavon District Council.

Council planners rejected proposals to build an 80-bed care home on the same land last year.

Northwick Developments put the plan back on the table in January but reduced the size of the care home slightly to 70 beds.

The return of the plan has again led to an outpouring of objections from residents on the edge of the city - including in Northwick, Claines and Bevere – who want to see the green space untouched.

Claines city councillor Karen Lawrance has objected to the plan saying it would be “dangerous and unwise” to allow it to go ahead.

“The site floods and further development will cause additional issues,” she said in an objection.

“It is the sole remaining view over the wider floodplain to travellers along Northwick Road. It is a distinctive landscape feature. It is a site of historical interest.

“We have all seen the folly of building on floodplain land where despite the pledges of builders and their advisers, people's homes have been flooded.

“This would be a dangerous and unwise, as well as unsightly development and should be opposed.”

The plan proved controversial when it was submitted at the end of 2020 and a petition with more than 1,100 signatures and more than 160 objections were lodged with the district council before a decision was made.

Wychavon planners said the land needed protecting for the community when rejecting the plan in February last year.

The decision delighted campaigners who rallied to save the cherished Donkey Field saying the site had been saved for future generations and "common sense had prevailed."

A plan for a 74-bed care home on the remaining part of the former park and ride site in John Comyn Drive off Droitwich Road, less than a mile away from Old Northwick Farm, was approved by Worcester City Council in 2020.

A decision is expected to be made again by Wychavon District Council’s planning committee in the near future.