A CONTROVERSIAL plan for 21 houses in the village of Alfrick should not be granted planning permission, district councillors ruled this week.

The application, by Two Rivers Developments, is to build the houses at Clay Green Farm, off Folly Road, in the village.

It was previously discussed at a meeting of Malvern Hills District Council's Northern Area Planning Committee in November, when it was deferred for the applicant to address members' concerns on the number of dwellings, layout, and other issues.

But the applicant then lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate on the grounds that the district council has failed to make a decision.

This means that the decision is out of the hands of the district council, but at its meeting on Wednesday night, members of the Northern Area Planning Committee were asked to indicate what their decision would have been.

In the event, the committee voted 7-5 with no abstentions to refuse the plan.

Brian Martin, the chairman of Alfrick and Lulsley Parish Council, said: "By any reasonable consideration, this is an urban-style extension which is outside the village's settlement boundary."

Local member Sarah Rouse, who proposed refusal, said: "The plan does not reflect the character and density of the the existing development of the village. It will not successfully integrate within the landscape."

And Anthony Warburton, also a local member, castigated the "utter inadequacy of the proposal in respect of the access from the highway", which he said would be dangerous,