THE development of a long-empty village pub near Worcester can finally begin - more than a year after it was given planning permission.

Malvern Hills District Council’s northern planning committee approved plans to transform the Crown at Martley in May 2022.

But planning officers only granted final approval last month, after important pieces of paperwork had been signed.

These included a Section 106 Agreement, which sets out how much money a developer will pay towards infrastructure projects such as roads and playgrounds.

The plan for the Crown will see a smaller pub re-open with two new pub gardens.

Four homes - a four-bedroom property, two three-bedroom properties and a two-bedroom home - will be built as well as two new shops and two holiday lets.

A total of 25 car parking spaces will be included on the site.

A previous scheme, which was similar but included plans for a smaller pub and more homes, had been rejected by district planners in 2021.

But councillors approved the latest application last year by nine votes to three.

This was despite the council receiving objections from dozens of residents, including ‘The Friends of the Crown’ community group, which had been responsible for the pub becoming an asset of community value in 2018.

They had been fighting for the pub and car park to reopen untouched and without any new housing.

READ MORE: Crown in Martley set to re-open after plans for pub near Worcester given go-ahead

The developers had said in a planning statement: “The development’s aim is to ensure a sustainable future for the public house, The Crown, as it is an unlisted building of merit as well as a community asset.

“Through the re-development of the whole site there will be provision of the public house on a more viable scale along with several other use classes that will create a multi-use space in the heart of Martley.”

It said the shops and holiday lets would “assist with the viability of the pub” and “enhance the village centre”.

The four homes being built will border the protected Crown Orchard, which forms part of the site.