MORE than a dozen new homes could be built near Tenbury Wells if plans are approved.

An application to build 13 new homes to replace a range of existing industrial, office, and storage buildings on land adjacent to Dumbleton House, off the A443 at Eardiston, has been submitted to Malvern Hills District Council.

In a design and access statement accompanying the application, Eden Homes said prior approval was granted in March 2022 for the demolition of a garage and workshop building and erection of a three-storey apartment building, providing 15 apartments with car parking and amenity space in 2022, while the remaining two-storey office block and three disused light industrial buildings would remain.

But, the application said, it is believed that the existing scheme, which only occupies part of the brownfield site and which offers a design "more akin to an urban environment" could be improved upon.

The proposed new scheme is for a mix of terraced, semi-detached, and detached homes to be built on the site. Three would provide two bedrooms, six would have three bedrooms, and four would have four bedrooms, the application said.

Eden Homes said the proposed homes would be more suited to the village's needs and more sympathetic to its location visually, while also removing the existing "unsightly" buildings.

The design and access statement said developers had met with the parish council on two occasions, and that councillors "felt strongly that the approved apartment scheme was wholly unacceptable and a different approach was needed".

Eden Homes had previously tabled a proposal which principally comprised of bungalows, the statement said, but reworked their design to meet the needs of the village after listening to councillors' suggestions.

A public meeting was also held in Eardiston in October, the statement said, with some 30 locals attending.

"None of the residents who spoke to members of the design team expressed objections to the principle of development on the site or to the scale and form of development proposed, nor to the extent of the site proposed to be built on," the statement said.