PLANS to build up to 75 homes in Evesham have been thrown out by council chiefs amid fears about the impact it would have on the countryside.
Wychavon District Council has refused the bid to build a mix of market and affordable homes, as well as landscaping and infrastructure, on land at Badsey Fields Lane.
The 3.48hectare site comprises predominantly greenfield land.
The applicants, Rainier Developments Ltd, claimed the development would deliver a range of important benefits, including addressing the ‘significant housing shortfall’ that currently existed in South Worcestershire.
The applicants also felt the development would increase the supply of affordable housing in an area which, they claimed, had worsening affordability and a poor existing affordable housing supply.
Plans aimed to show accessible, high-quality open space would be provided, delivering environmental enhancements.
The development aimed to provide a mix of one- to four-bedroom homes, with 40 per cent – a total of 30 homes – delivered as affordable housing
The site lies outside the defined development limits within the South Worcestershire Development Plan and would have been classified as development in the open countryside.
However, the applicants claimed the council was unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing land and felt there were no adverse impacts which significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposals.
Wychavon planners felt, as most of the application site lay entirely outside of a defined settlement boundary, it was therefore defined as open countryside where development should be strictly controlled.
Planners also felt it would result in significant encroachment into the open countryside.
Other reasons for refusal included a fear the development would result in the loss of ‘best and most versatile’ agricultural land and failed to demonstrate that no suitable alternative site existed.
And, in the absence of a Section 106 legal agreement, the council felt that no secure arrangements were in place to secure the provision of and arrangements for a financial contribution towards affordsable housing, public open space, transport and infrastructure, education, sports and leisure.
The application was submitted in November 2025 and a consultation closed in May.
