A decision on a plan to build more homes on green space on the edge of the city has been delayed over concerns about flooding and school places.

The move would see 28 homes built on former paddocks off Martley Road on the edge of Worcester.

Malvern Hills District Council’s planning committee voted to defer a decision on the plan saying it needed more information to address concerns about the lack of school places in the area.

Cllr Dan Walton, who represents Broadheath, called for the plan to be rejected warning that the lack of school places locally was already a worrying issue – and was going to be made worse by the 28-home plan, and the thousands of homes planned for the area.

READ MORE: More homes agreed in Martley despite fears over school places

He also said drivers would be “taking their lives into their own hands” with the lack of visibility around tight bends and much of the area – including homes – regularly flooded.

Cllr Walton later withdrew his call to allow for the developer and council to provide more information.

The rest of the committee also had concerns about the lack of school places in the area and feared that there was not enough space to accommodate children from the proposed new homes – as well as those from thousands of new homes already planned for the surrounding area.

READ MORE: 52 homes to be built in Martley near Worcester after council overruled

“We talk about all of these being sustainable but not every one of them can be sustainable because they are pushing more cars onto the road,” Cllr Walton said at the planning meeting in Malvern on Wednesday (October 4).

“If there’s a housing need in the Malvern district, there isn’t one in Lower Broadheath. Growth is already supported, and this is not needed.”

Cllr Peter Whatley questioned whether the location was appropriate.

“This is open countryside and there are no facilities,” he said. “How is this sustainable?”

Cllr Paul Cumming said he had “great sympathy” with Cllr Walton but did not see the council winning an appeal.

“In light of recent decisions by inspectors, this will inevitably be agreed and there will be great costs against us,” he said.

The land currently sits on the edge of the boundary earmarked for the West Worcester ‘urban extension’ which will eventually see thousands of homes built between the city and Lower Broadheath.

Some of the land, which sits next to Laugherne Brook, is in zones which are classed as at most risk from flooding by the Environment Agency.

Planning officers at Malvern Hills District Council had recommended that the plan be approved before the meeting.

The green space is also classed as open countryside by the council and sits within its ‘significant gap’ which is supposed to be used to preserve villages by creating a buffer between Worcester and some of its surrounding areas.

The ‘urban extension’ of the city included in the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), which has been approved through various planning applications in the last five years, includes plans to build up to 2,150 new homes and a new school and contains measures to protect the ‘significant gap’ and prevent building on land that is at risk of flooding.