A controversial plan to build 40 homes on the edge of the city has been given the green light after the council was overruled.

The move to build ‘affordable’ housing in Hallow near Worcester was rejected by Malvern Hills District Council earlier this year but can now go ahead after government planning inspectors sided with the developer following an appeal.

The council has also been ordered to pay costs for “acting unreasonably” having argued there was enough housing in the district to cope with demand in the next five years – but failed to provide any evidence during a hearing.

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A report by planning inspector Kevin Savage said: “I have found that the other material considerations in this case do not raise adverse impacts but conversely there would be significant benefits in terms of housing delivery in an accessible location, both in terms of affordable housing and overall, at a time when the district council is falling well short of demonstrating a sufficient supply of deliverable housing sites.”

The mix of one-to-four-bed maisonettes, bungalows and houses would be built on almost five acres of farmland off the village’s Oakleigh Heath by Hamelin Partnerships and Platform Housing.

Council planners rejected the application because they said there was no justification to build outside Hallow’s earmarked boundary for housing.

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Malvern Hills planners also said Platforming Housing had used “flawed assessments” and “unsubstantiated assumptions” – as well as “inappropriately” including the number of homes in Claines and ignoring a plan by another developer for 55 homes in the village in its calculations.

More than 40 villagers had objected to the plan ahead of the council making a decision.

A plan to build 76 homes on the land was rejected by Malvern Hills District Council in 2017 – almost 18 months after it was put forward.

An appeal was then made to the government’s planning inspector in a bid to get the decision overturned and while the number of homes was reduced to 38, the plea was still rejected.

Back in 2017, planners at Malvern Hills District Council said building homes on the land would ruin the ‘character’ of the village and countryside and did not want to see agricultural land lost to housing.