Malvern Civic Society (MCS) Planning Sub-Committee (PSC) meetings routinely review all live applications in the Malvern urban area. Fifteen applications were reviewed, or re-reviewed due to update of information. Four were debated in depth
18/01436/FUL -Land at College Road (OS 7763 4500)
The application is for erection of two detached dwellings and associated garages. Proposals for the design of the garages appear to be incomplete. Otherwise planning policies relating to this heritage appear to be satisfied. Several members of the Malvern Civic Society who are familiar with the site report that there is incidence of Japanese knot-weed. The comprehensive survey identifying the incidence of plant species throughout the site appears not to have identified the presence of this pernicious plant. Should the planning officers obtain satisfactory design details for the garages and apply a condition to the application requiring the eradication or absence of Japanese knot-weed, then PSC would have no objection to the approval of this planning application.
18/01615/FUL Barnards Green House, part garden (OS 7908 4547)
This application is for the erection of a new house, to sit within the historical curtilage, i.e. part of the garden, of the listed Barnards Green House. The plans for the new house suggest that it would have a plain, if not brutal, visual appearance. As such it could be judged to detract from the appearance of the historic Barnards Green House which dates, at least in part, to existing in 1635. The house was once the home of Sir Charles Hastings MD (1794 – 1866), a surgeon of Worcester Hospital, who was a founder of the British Medical Association. A planning application in 2005 approved development within the grounds of the house and resulted in four dwellings which appear to be sympathetic in external form to the house. Unfortunately, documents relating to the conditions imposed for the appearance of these then new buildings are no longer available but local anecdote suggests that considerable work was done to give assurance of the compatibility of the new with the old. South Worcestershire Development Plan 24 says that, in effect, new build should aim to conserve the setting of historic assets. In this respect, the opinion of the PSC is that the proposed new build is not consistent with planning policy.
18/01302/FUL Malvern Priory temporary toilets
This is an application for temporary toilets to be housed in a Portakabin adjacent to the North Door of Great Malvern Priory. The Portakabin and its screening fence would occupy 3 existing parking spaces. Timescale of occupation is planned for 5 years, pending design and construction of a permanent toilet building. The MCS Chairman has responded to the application on behalf of MCS, concurring with Conservation Officer report about the need for the toilets, but offering reservations about the position of the temporary building and the projected timescale for its use.
South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP)
South Worcestershire Councils (SWCs) i.e. MHDC/Wychavon/Worcester City, are progressing a review of the existing SWDP. Several PSC members attended a local exhibition in the Lyttelton Rooms on 26 November. A presentation was intended to identify the overriding issues and options that would drive the development plans for homes, jobs, protecting the environment, infrastructure and funding. There was good attendance also by councillors and members of the public. This topic is likely to interest the PSC for several years.
Graham Myatt 27/08/18