FEAR of losing the green play area in front of their homes has led to a protest by residents in Kempsey's Kings Hill.

Building five more houses and two bungalows, with no gardens, on part of the play area would reduce local amenities and bring extra traffic to the single access road, they say.

They were also worried about the ability of the sewers to cope with an extra load and the possible dangers of construction work on the site.

Their petition, to Malvern Hills District Council, objecting to the proposed development, is fully supported by Kempsey Parish Council.

Unnecessary

"We support the principle of building more low-cost homes, but feel this is too much density of expansion," said planning chairman David Harrison.

"The proposed bungalows are totally unnecessary as there are sufficient housing association bungalows in other parts of the village."

He said he believed the original planning permission for Kings Hill had stated that the play area should be kept as an open space and if it was now to be built on, there should be a requirement for another play area to be provided.

"There are problems with the sewers and if these plans are approved the construction work is going to be a nightmare for residents," he said.

The scheme included two houses and bungalows with two bedrooms each and three houses with three bedrooms, giving the potential for a minimum of 14 extra cars.

Disastrous

Neville Brookes said this amount of extra traffic using the single access could be "quite disastrous."

Peter Copson felt a stop should be put on any more housing developments until Kempsey had the amenities to cope with them.

Kempsey Primary School is full and children from the village are already being taken to schools in Worcester by taxi.

The doctor's surgery is also fully stretched and cannot accept any new patients.

"It's what we have all been saying, but no one is taking any notice," said the chairman, Joy Clee.