CONTROVERSIAL plans for a housing estate in Alfrick on land owned by a former Malvern Hills District Council leader have been approved on appeal.

The application by Greenlight Developments has been given permission to build 21 houses on land at Clay Green Farm, Alfrick, a site owned by former councillor David Hughes.

The decision was made by planning inspector David Rose following a hearing held in Malvern last October.

Mr Rose said that the scheme's benefits "would be sufficiently compelling to outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the countryside."

Gary Williams, the council's head of planning and housing, said: “We are clearly disappointed with the decision as the council considered that it had sound and justifiable reasons to support its refusal of the proposals.

"Whilst the inspector has taken their own position on important matters such as highway safety, we do not currently see grounds to legally challenge the inspector’s decision."

Mr Hughes was defeated when he stood for re-election to the district council in May 2015 and attributed the loss of his seat to the row about the application.

Cllr Sarah Rouse, who won one of the two Alfrick seats at that election, said this week: "This decision is a kick in the teeth, not only for the people of Alfrick who have had yet another unwanted and unsuitable development thrust upon them, but for all the residents of MHDC."