THE DECISION to refuse the demolition of nine garages to build two affordable bungalows on land off Pridzor Road has been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.
Despite residents voicing strong concerns over the development causing a loss of parking and storage areas, Planning Inspector Jonathan Hockley decided the benefits of the proposals outweighed the negatives.
The proposal was to knock down the garage block and area in front to make room for the bungalows with two parking spaces.
In his report, Mr Hockley said, while the loss of the garages would clearly affect the local parking conditions to some extent, there was no evidence it would increase the risk to highway safety.
And he said the housing association had agreed to help those tenants who would lose a garage by allocating them another one or a shed where possible.
Coun Bob Brookes said residents would be very disappointed with the decision by an inspector from ‘outside the area’ to overrule Wychavon District Council’s planning committee, which had been supported by Droitwich Spa Town Council.
