Neighbours fear Ombersley Court plans will 'lower house prices'

The owners want to turn Omberlsey Court into a new private hire venue that would be able to sell alcohol until midnight and stay open and play live and recorded music until 1am every day.

Last year the Worcestershire village was named as one of the poshest in Britain after Savills estate agents reported a steep rise in demand for rural properties.

READ MORE: Neighbours fear late-night plan for Ombersley Court will be too noisy

Ombersley residents have spoken of their fears the quiet village will be blighted with weekly parties if it is turned into a wedding venue.

The Duke of Wellington regularly stayed at the court after his triumph over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Michael Podmore, 64 and a landscape architect, said: "The Court was falling down before it was taken over, it needed taking over. 

“The bit that I probably have a problem with is the staying open after 11pm bit on the application.

STAY: Duke of Wellington would regularly stay at Ombersley Court. (Image: SWNS)

"The village is a dark skies village, it has no street lamps. It's a quiet village, something like this is completely out of character.

“What they have inside the Court is one thing, but the events in the ground is what people are worried about.

“At night it’s silent, if you were in a town you’ve got a background noise but when it’s silent, there’s excess noise.

“It would be a blight on the whole village.

POSH: Omberlsey was named one of the 'poshest' villages in the UK and regularly tops lists of most desireable places to live. (Image: SWNS)

“Music going on until the early hours of the morning is not ideal.

"The alcohol licence doesn’t bother me one way or another, we’ve got three pubs in the village. It's difficult to object to it in the day. Beyond 11pm is a reasonable cut off point.

“The concern is it will get developed into a wedding venue but if you imagine 20 weekends of the year with live bands and discos not in the hall but in marquees it won’t be ideal.

“There's a worry that it will impact it (on house prices).

“It is an idyllic village. It is a very nice place to live, we think we’re pretty lucky.

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"You need commerce to keep things alive, but it’s about how far it can go before it changes the character of the village.

“Change isn’t always a bad thing though, it just needs to fit.

"I'm worried it will be at the cost of the community rather than the benefit of the community."

The application fronted by Mark Bevan, managing director of the Gemini Hospitality Group which also runs the Elms Hotel in Abberley and Checketts of Ombersley.

Businessman Tim Hopkins bought the mansion, which is set in 39-acres, for £3.5million in 2017.

Wychavon District Council’s licensing subcommittee meets in Pershore from 2pm on April 12.