HALF a dozen homes predicted to be a ‘blot on the landscape’ could still be built on a former city golf course despite the council turning the plan down.

The application by Tustin Holdings for six new homes off The Fairway next to Worcester’s Tolladine Road was rejected by councillors last November.

The developer has now lodged an appeal with the government’s planning inspector, which has the power to overrule Worcester City Council, to get the decision overturned.

The homes would sit on the northern tip of the former Tolladine golf course next to 16 affordable homes being built by Platform Housing.

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The land on the former golf course is protected green space but has also been included as a potential site for up to 15 new homes in the ongoing review of the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP).

The move proved contentious after several plans to build homes on the green space have been met with opposition and controversy over the years.

Several neighbours in The Fairway, the road which the new homes would be accessed from, criticised Platform Housing saying they were concerned by the increase in traffic especially entering onto and exiting from the already-very-busy Tolladine Road.

Other neighbours questioned whether the homes were needed when plans for affordable housing in nearby Rose Avenue had already been approved.

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A statement included with the application by Tustin Holdings said: “Whilst the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review (SWDPR) is only at the preferred options stage, it is felt that this proposed allocation is clear indication that proposed development area is surplus green space that can be supported as sustainable development moving forward.”

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Bromford Housing made several attempts to build 50 new homes off Darwin Avenue on a different part of the former golf course, which proved unsuccessful and eventually ended with an appeal to the government planning inspector being thrown out.

The plan was rejected by Worcester City Council’s planning committee twice in as many years with the planning inspector, at the moment, looking to have quashed any plans to build on the popular green space.

Many residents said they were upset over the possibility of losing one of the city’s remaining green spaces and councillors insisted they would not be ‘threatened’ into making a decision by Bromford in a row over costs.