A NEW scheme to develop a prominent site on the slope of the Malvern Hills have been sent in to district council planners.

Habitas Ltd has applied to demolish a Victorian building at 54 West Malvern Road, near the bend known locally

as the Redan bend, and build the new homes on the site.

The application site is just outside the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The company submitted a previous application for the site late in 2015, but subsequently withdrew it following a barrage of criticism from local residents and groups.

In a statement accompanying the latest application, Nick Carroll Architects Ltd of Worcester, acting on

behalf of Habitas, says: "This scheme has evolved from earlier submissions and design panel reviews and has sought to overcome all of the obstacles to the design previous raised.

"We trust we have a sensitive, in-keeping proposal which improves the character of West Malvern Road and sits well against the adjacent AONB."

The statement says that the existing dwelling is an old Victorian building, and the cost of refurbishing it would be some 80 per cent of the cost of new build.

"As this would only provide for a single dwelling it is proposed to form 4 new buildings, satisfying requirement for housing numbers in a manner which would be easier to maintain and have lower lifetime running costs."

The applicant's proposals are for a new three-storey development of four three-bed homes, each with two off-road parking spaces, bin and cycle storage, and gardens going down the 45-degree slope of the hillside below.

"Previous iterations of layouts that laid out accommodation down the slope of the land had been rejected," says the statement.

The earlier plan by Habitas was described by local residents as too prominent and industrial-looking, and people living in the roads directly below also worried about potential hazards during the construction work.

Malvern Civic Society said: “This is an important site in the Trinity Conservation Area. The proposed design is not suited to the conservation area and moreover, when viewed from the north towards the Hills, which is an AONB area, it looks positively alien if not industrial.

“This site is visible from as distant as Leigh Sinton and a more sensitive and attractive design is required.”