A PLAN to build a number of homes in a village has been turned down by council planners.

The application would have seen space for five ‘self-build’ homes set aside in Crowle near Worcester but the work has been given the thumbs down with Wychavon District Council calling it “inappropriate.”

The application by Adrian Coleman asked for ‘permission in principle’ – which rules whether a site is suitable for building – for space to build five ‘self-build’ homes on land behind Rose Cottage off Netherwood Lane in Crowle.

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Planners at Wychavon District Council turned down the plan saying they could not allow homes to be built on the open countryside or outside the development boundary for the village included in the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) which sets out where thousands of new homes will be built in the next 20 years.

A report outlining the rejection said: “The proposed development … would not safeguard or enhance the open countryside nor encourage the effective use or re-use of brownfield land.

“In addition, the proposal would not constitute one of the exceptions to allowing new housing development outside development boundaries.”

Crowle Parish Council had objected to the self-build homes plan saying the village was already dealing with a number of planning applications that could see it grow by more than 100 homes if approved.

A plan by Platform Housing for 12 homes off Froxmere Road in the village was turned down by planners at Wychavon District Council in 2021 but overturned by a government planning inspector in February 2022.

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More than 100 objections were raised against the plan by villagers but the inspector still overruled the council and allowed the plan to go ahead.

Spitfire Homes want to build 30 homes, including 12 ‘affordable’ homes, on land off Church Road in Crowle and last year Piper Homes revealed it wants to build 62 homes on land on the opposite side of the village’s Church Road which was met with a wave of objections from villagers.

The earmarked land for 62 new homes is outside Crowle’s current designated development boundary but was put forward as a potential site for up to 40 new homes during the ongoing review of the SWDP.