RESIDENTS of Upper Welland will have their chance to comment on a proposed housing development in the village next week.

Trine Developments Ltd has applied for permission to build 23 homes on the site, currently a field, between Assarts Road and Upper Welland Road.

The application is on the agenda when Malvern Wells Parish Council holds a meeting of its planning committee on Tuesday, January 19.

In its application, the company says the development, which it has dubbed Assarts Green, is intended to create an "attractive and sustainable extension to Malvern through good design that draws on the existing qualities of the town and its setting".

The development includes six two-bedroom bungalows, four two-bedroom flats, six three-bedroom houses and seven four-bedroom houses.

"The development will be an asset for Malvern, supporting facilities and giving the opportunity for towns’ people and their families to move to a home to suit their changing circumstances without having to leave the community," says the developer.

The site lies within the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also within the local conservation area.

David Taverner, the parish council's clerk, said: "I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few members of the public turn out for the meeting. Developments like this are always controversial."

A plan to build 95 homes on a nearby site off Upper Welland Road was rejected in February last year, and a scheme to build 43 homes on land off Hanley Road was turned down in April.

Both of them were rejected by Malvern Hills District Council planners because of their impact on the AONB.

Mr Taverner said: "Because it's in the conservation area and the AONB, I would think there will be quite a lot of opposition to it. The parish council has certainly opposed previous plans on these grounds before."

Tuesday's meeting is at 7pm at Malvern Wells Village Hall and is open to the public. The final decision on the application will be taken by the district council.