PLANS for a housing development, nursing home and offices on Friday Furlong, in Bidford, have been given the go ahead despite objections from the parish council and local doctors.

Stratford District Council's west area planning committee last week gave developers George Wimpey (West Midlands) and Cranbrook Homes outline planning permission for the scheme.

It was one of two applications submitted - the second omitted the B1 employment use - for the site off Waterloo Road, and the one favoured by planning officers.

But Bidford Parish Council objected to the inclusion of the offices, which will take up about one seventh of the site, saying there is no need for such a development in the village.

At the meeting Angela Deacon pointed out there are already sites available on the Waterloo Road Industrial Estate, and said industrial units would increase the area's tendency to flood.

She also stressed the impact on medical services in the village, saying: "Bidford Health Centre is unable to accommodate another doctor which this site would need."

Doctors at the health centre had lodged their own concerns, saying they are already running at capacity and would not be able to cope with the additional workload."

At the meeting Dr Peter Robinson asked for a time scale for the project.

"We are already cramped and need to expand," he said.

"We will be expecting an increase, but being a village practise we don't have the luxury of being able to limit our patient list."

A full application, with details of number of houses and their position, will be submitted in due course.