Home will be built in Checketts Close after criticism over size

Planners at Worcester City Council have approved a plan to build a three-bed home on the corner of Checketts Close and Checketts Lane off Droitwich Road in Worcester.

After talks with the council, it was agreed that the building would be reduced in size by a storey, turning the proposed four-bed three-storey into a two-storey three-bed home to make the plan acceptable.

SIZE: The approved plan in Checketts Close with the size of the scrapped three-storey four-bed house outlined in red (Image: Worcester City Council)

Two off-street parking spaces would be built on the opposite side of the road, which was deemed acceptable by Worcestershire County Council’s highways department after earlier opposing the first four-bed home plan over a deficit in the required parking spaces.

READ MORE: Former St John's dentist's could be turned into flats and new homes

A plan to build a three-storey apartment block on the same corner plot was put forward last year but later withdrawn after a number of objections were made by nearby residents.

Middlesex-based developer Hartnell Homes then put forward a new plan which would instead see a three-storey four-bed home built on the same bit of land.

PLAN: An artist's impression of the proposed four-bed house which was later reduced in size after criticism from the council's planners over the building's height (Image: Hartnell Homes)

The previous application by Hartnell Homes drew dozens of criticisms from neighbours – particularly over the height of the proposed building.

Hartnell Homes said the original four-bed home would be “sympathetic” with its neighbours and would be similar in size to other three-storey buildings within a stone’s throw in Checketts Lane.

READ MORE: Garages next to 240-year-old Barbourne house could become new homes

Last year, opponents of the plan said the patch of grass on the corner of the residential street was too small to house a three-storey building and the new flats.

One objector, Jeannette Martin of Checketts Lane said: “I think it’s absolutely unnecessary, I can't understand why they'd want to put flats there. Checketts Lane hasn't got any rooms for any more flats.”

The plans for the three-storey building included two two-bed and one one-bed flat as well as five parking spaces – three of which would have been built on a patch of grass opposite.

Highways officers at Worcestershire County Council had recommended the plan was turned down for not including an ‘acceptable’ amount of parking.