MORE than 50 homes will be built in a village after the council’s rejection was overturned by a government inspector.

Malvern Hills District Council turned down a plan to build 52 homes in Martley near Worcester last year but a government inspector has now declared the work can go ahead after overruling council planners.

The plan by Jessup Brothers and Citizen Housing will now see new homes allowed to be built as well alongside ten self-build plots and space for a new GP surgery.

A new 30-space car park for Martley’s village hall was also included in the plans.

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The inspector said he would allow the 52 new homes to be built, despite the land being in open countryside and outside the agreed development boundary for the village, because Malvern Hills District Council was unable to show it had plans to meet the demand for housing across the district in the next five years.

The inspector said the new homes would “inevitably” change the character and appearance of the village, and the harm would be “moderate”, but said the homes could be “sensitively designed” to fit in better with the surroundings.

Malvern Hills District Council will also have to pay costs to Jessup Brothers and Citizen Housing for “acting unreasonably” and causing “necessary and wasted expense” in a separate ruling by the government inspector.

A similar plan to build 60 homes and a new GP surgery on the same land was rejected by planners at Malvern Hills District Council in June.

More than 75 objections were submitted to the council during public consultation on the first and second plans saying building the homes would result in the village losing its character.

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Planning officers at Malvern Hills District Council said they had “serious concerns” about the loss of land and the damage it would cause to the “valued landscape” when rejecting the application.

Martley Parish Council, which has called for the plans to be rejected, also raised concerns about building on open countryside and ruining the "distinctive and valued part of the local landscape."

A plan by Lioncourt Homes to build 83 homes in the village was revealed in January 2021 with a decision still waiting to be made.