A MALVERN man at the centre of a controversial barns plan has reapplied for permission for housing at a farm in Barnards Green.

John Bullock wants planning and listed building consent to convert the existing farm buildings at Mill Farm, Guarlford Road, into eight dwellings

He also wants outline permission for residential development on a 0.55 hectare plot between the farm and Campion Drive to the south.

The plans are similar to ones Mr Bullock submitted to Malvern Hills District Council earlier this year.

Those were accompanied by a controversial scheme for large barns further down Guarlford Road.

The application became the focus for a huge protest campaign, with hundreds of letters being sent to the planning authority.

On August 29, members of Malvern Hills District Council's southern area planning committee turned down a plan to develop the land behind the farm.

The decision went against officers' advice, with councillors voicing fears about the access on to Guarlford Road.

At the same time, the plans for the farm buildings were deferred and no decision has yet been made on them. Planning officers had recommended this application for approval as well.

Planning officer Rosalyn Field said the new plans appeared to differ from the old ones only in the details of access on to Guarlford Road. Mr Bullock's agent, Christopher Knock of Ross-on-Wye, confirmed that access was the difference between the old and the new plans.

"We resubmitted these applications with the access altered," he said.

Meanwhile, farmer G Bott, meanwhile, of nearby Whitehouse Farm in Blakes Lane, Guarlford, has submitted an unrelated application to convert two traditional barns into residential units. The barns were damaged by fire some years ago.