THE lack of a bus route could hamper attempts to open a nursery at a farm in Powick.

Malvern Hills District Council held off a decision on planning permission for the scheme, opting instead to visit the site at Dawes Hill Farm.

Della and Geoffrey Grizzell want to convert an existing barn and extend the main house at the farm.

Concerns were expressed that the business would be a mile from the nearest bus route and would generate traffic on a narrow road.

However, Mrs Grizzell said parents would be dropping their children off on the way to work.

"I think the councillors themselves felt that the bus route thing was a bit unrealistic," she said.

Mrs Grizell said she had rung other nurseries in the district to find out if children were taken there by bus and found this was not the case.

Worcestershire County Council planning policy dictates that travel to new developments must be minimised and access should be available by public transport.

"If the public must be able to access businesses by bus that would restrict no end of rural businesses," said Mrs Grizzell, adding that her family needed a financial back-up because the future of farming was so unstable.

The nursery would cater for six to ten pupils, with a maximum capacity of 20.

A neighbour has raised objections about additional traffic, which the councillors investigated at a site visit on Tuesday.

Safety concerns about the farm still operating were also raised. However, Mrs Grizzell said the farm traffic would be re-routed away from the nursery.

The application will go back to the committee on December 3.