TWENTY one homes can be built on the site of a former sawmill, factory and warehousing used to make timber fencing in the Teme Valley as long as the developers include affordable housing and clean up the contaminated land.

Marsten Developments applied to Malvern Hills District Council to demolish the modern industrial buildings at Stanford Court, Stanford Bridge, near Abberley, build 21 homes and for change of use from employment to residential land. The scheme also included four affordable homes on a separate site off Orleton Lane.

The developer already has planning permission and listed building consent to convert the original stables and service buildings at Stanford Court to apartments and planning permission for to build garages which feature bat lofts.

The proposals are in open countryside and do not comply with the council’s development plan. There were also a number of objections on a range of issues from its impact on a small rural hamlet to its unsustainability.

Head of the council’s development control Duncan Rudge told the northern area development control committee the land, formerly used by Forest Garden plc, is contaminated, which could threaten public health, safety and the natural environment and this was a material planning consideration.

He also said the proposal would be sympathetic to the setting of the listed buildings and would not harm the landscape of the area.

The committee agreed, by 10 votes for to four against, to authorise the head of planning and housing to grant planning permission subject to the developer providing affordable housing on the main site and the clean-up operation.