A NUMBER of industrial units could be demolished to make way for 24 homes under new plans.

The units off Brickfield Roads in Worcester, which are currently home to precision engineers Powell and Harber, would be knocked down and replaced with affordable housing as part of proposals by the Goodfish Group and Fischer German.

Up to 24 “redbrick” homes would be built in a mix of sizes if the plans are approved in principle by Worcester City Council.

Goodfish bought the city-based toolmakers Powell and Harber in 2015.

A statement included with the application said: “The current occupant and owner of the site, Powell and Harber, are a well-established engineering company specialising in the design and manufacturing of injection mould tools and plastic injection moulded parts.

“The company employ 40 people at site but are also part of a wider business group which employs 125 staff over three locations.

“The growth of the business and exploration of new production methods, coupled with notable site deficiencies in terms of location and highway network, has raised increasing operational issues that make the site unviable for the existing use moving forward.”

A potential layout for the development has been provided in the application but the design of the homes would be decided at a later date.

The application said affordable housing was important in the city and would improve a site with many constraints.

"The proposal would support the delivery of much needed affordable housing within Worcester and lead to the formal redevelopment of a constrained commercial site with achievable improvements in site drainage, energy consumption and traffic movements," the application reads.

"Whilst no formal design is provided at this stage it is also found that the broad context of the indicative design would provide for high quality-built design that would utilise a brownfield site with an appropriate level of residential development in a highly sustainable location of South Worcestershire."

The plans can be viewed via the planning section of the city council's website. The application number is 21/00558/OUT. Public consultation ends on July 14.