A DISABLED man has won an eight-month battle to build a home specially designed for him after planning officers said no.

Edward Lloyd of Noble View, West Malvern Road, Malvern, who is paraplegic, applied last year to knock down a dilapidated two-storey cottage at Bastonford, near Powick, and build a custom-designed one-storey house on the site.

But planning officers at Malvern Hills District Council said his circumstances should not outweigh the principle of not allowing development in the countryside.

This week, the council’s planning committee voted to approve Mr Lloyd’s application, to the relief of him and his family.

His father Steve Lloyd said: “We’re obviously very pleased that we’ve been given approval, but it’s been a long road to get here.

“We put in our planning application last summer, expecting it to take eight weeks as planning applications are supposed to, but it’s turned out more like eight months.”

The application first came before the council’s northern area development management committee last August, with planning officers recommending refusal.

But members deferred making a decision, saying the planning officers should discuss with the applicant the possibility of presenting the scheme to MADE, the regional design review panel for the West Midlands, The application came back before the same committee last month, when members approved it, again against officers’ recommendation.

So officers referred it back to the planning committee, which met on Tuesday evening, once again recommending refusal.

At the meeting, Duncan Rudge warned members allowing it would set a precedent which would allow other applicants to cite personal circumstances to justify developments that otherwise would not be allowed.

Mr Lloyd’s architect Sandy Greenhill, told the meeting the proposed house was specially designed for Mr Lloyd’s needs as he is paraplegic and needed a motorised wheelchair and other disability aids.

Ward councillor Tom Wells spoke in favour, saying it was just 90 metres from existing housing on the old Powick hospital site, where a further 61 houses are also proposed.

Committee chairman Melanie Baker proposed the plan be approved, which was seconded by Powick ward councillor Elaine Newman.

Cllr Baker said: “There are times when we make decisions in exceptional circumstances that go against our policies.”

When the vote came, five members supported it and five opposed, with Cllr Baker using her casting vote.

After the meeting, Mr Lloyd said: “It now means we can start by demolishing the existing property and hopefully by the end of the summer we can break ground."