A NEW 220-home estate - complete with a neighbouring wildlife conservation reserve - is set to get the go-ahead in Stourport.

Developer Laing Homes wants to build 221 houses on empty grassland bordered by Mill Lane and Timber Lane, off Hartlebury Road.

The firm plans to create the estate on half of the 33-acre site - and turn the rest of it into a riverside environmental zone, backed by the Environment Agency and Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

The new reserve will be funded by the developer for seven years.

The housing project already has outline permission, dating back more than a decade.

The detailed proposal is to build 55 five bedroom homes, 97 homes with three or four bedrooms and another 69 homes with one or two bedrooms.

Ten per cent of the homes will be managed by Jephson Housing Association.

A new road bridge will be built leading off Hartlebury Road onto the estate. Laing Homes has also promised to fund road improvements in the area and a section of the hoped-for Stourport Relief Road.

Objections have already been raised by some neighbours - with the biggest concern surrounding increased traffic onto Hartlebury Road.

District councillor June Salter said she had come back from holiday to news of the scheme - and had received several objections in one day.

"The main worry is about traffic. The plans show one entry and exit from the estate, onto Hartlebury Road.

"The road is already congested at peak times."

Councillor Salter is to meet with highways chiefs to discuss the concerns.

Residents have also voiced fears about the impact of the building work and of the sudden influx of 200 or so families.