THE Campaign for the Protection of Rural England has raised its concerns about the development of an MoD site in Malvern.

The 50-acre Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) North Site, on Leigh Sinton Road, has been earmarked for a mixture of housing and employment when it is handed over to Malvern Hills District Council in March, 2003.

Surplus to military requirements and in the process of having its operations wound down, the site was included in the council's Local Plan Review Key Issue Report as a major brownfield redevelopment opportunity.

But the Worcestershire branch of CPRE has criticised the move in its latest newsletter because a large proportion of the site is open country.

Spokesman Frank Hill said: "It will be very useful for a mixture of housing and employment of some sort but we also need to bear in mind its position in respect to Malvern.

"People who live there may want to shop or work in various parts of Malvern then there will be a lot of traffic coming through Link Top and Malvern Link on a road infrastructure that is not really built for it. That's our main concern."

Mr Hill said the town would also lose large areas of grassland and mature trees if the whole site was developed.

"The council is well aware of our concerns and we'll just have to wait and see what it does on it," he added.

Bernie Smith, of the district council's planning department, said no more work had been done since the Key Issue Report and public tours of the site in July.

He said a good response had been received with regard to the site's suitability for mixed usage and a report would be prepared for the planning committee in due course.

Mr Smith said the council had not had any recent discussion with the MoD or its agents.