"THIS is a leap of faith", said planners at Wychavon District Council as they unanimously approved proposals for 22 new homes in Upton Snodsbury.

The committee said they were happy with the plans in front of them for the homes on land off Cutts Pool and School Lane in the village.

But they were concerned the access through Cutts Pool, which has still to be confirmed and will be approved or refused at the next stage of planning, may fall through and the developer, Cala Homes Midlands, could be forced to return to the original plan and access through School Lane.

A previous application for the same site for 16 homes had attracted opposition due to the access with residents feeling it would pose a danger to children and would be too congested.

The latest plans access the site off Cutts Pool, which is welcomed by the parish council, but it has yet to be finalised as a small strip of land that has to be crossed to enter the estate is still in question.

Cala Homes Midlands said they would aim to access the site off Cutts Pool, but should that be impossible they may have to revisit the original access.

Despite this concern the committee agreed to put their trust in the housebuilder.

Councillor Terry Eagle, chairman of Upton Snodsbury Parish Council, said: "The parish council has no objection provided there is no vehicular access to the site via School Lane."

District council ward member and chairman of the planning committee Cllr Linda Robinson said she did have reservations.

"This is a leap of faith from the committee and certainly wouldn't look good on your (Cala Homes) CV if this was a u-turn," she said. "This one seems to have been long in the making. Cutts Pool was always the preferred access. We can't discuss it in detail today as it will be decided at the reserved matters stage."

Cllr Keith Wright added: "I am quite happy to put a bit of trust in Cala Homes on this one. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt."