A PLAN to build 22 new homes on an industrial site in Bewdley has been rejected.

An application was originally submitted to Wyre Forest District Council by The Sandpiper Group in 2017 to demolish the existing industrial buildings at Alton Works on Long Bank Road and replace them with residential properties.

The site would include a range of two, three and four-bed homes with plans being amended several times over the years.

The proposals for the housing scheme received eight letters of support from residents, but there were concerns raised over increased traffic in the area.  

One resident said: “There will inevitably be extra vehicle access needed to and from the new estate from Long Bank.

“The A456 at this point is 60mph and is quite dangerous for access to existing houses and the Wyre Forest because of the speed at which vehicles travel.”

Another added: “I’m generally supportive of this. The industrial land isn’t nice to look at and we need more housing.

“The only issue is the speed of the road. More traffic pulling in and out creates more danger.”

There were also issues surrounding the agreed use of the land which led the council to refuse planning permission on Tuesday, October 10.

As part of the refusal notice, the planning manager said: “The application site is allocated for employment land and the redevelopment of the site for residential would result in loss of employment land, which has not been justified through active marketing of the site for a period of at least 12 months or demonstrated that it is no longer viable as an employment site.”

They added that not enough consideration had been made towards the impact on biodiversity and that the site lies in the open countryside where residential development is limited and the plans did not fall within any exceptions permitted for rural housing.