A decision is set to be made on whether to build a controversial ‘business park’ which includes a Sainsbury’s and Costa Coffee next to a new estate.

Wychavon District Council’s planning committee will be meeting to decide on the plans for the Copcut Rise estate in Droitwich which includes a new Sainsbury’s supermarket, Costa Coffee drive-thru, two industrial units, more than 130 parking spaces and eight electric vehicle charging points.

The council’s planning officers have recommended the plan is approved at the meeting in Pershore on July 20.

The plans for the land between Roman Way and Copcut Boulevard have been derided by residents with more than 140 objections lodged with the district council ahead of a decision being made – with many saying they would not have bought a home nearby if they knew about the plans for the Copcut Business Park.

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The new business park would bring 210 jobs according to the application by Hinton Properties.

Hindlip, Martin Hussingtree and Salwarpe Parish Council said the planned facilities amounted to nothing more than a ‘roadside service station’ bringing misery and extra pollution to hundreds of households.

The parish council said that a new Sainsbury’s supermarket could prove to be useful for ‘basic, day-to-day needs’ but the remaining facilities would be of “little benefit” and cause ‘24/7 traffic and nuisance’ for people who have recently moved into their new homes.

The new Copcut Rise estate off Roman Way in Droitwich is made up of more than 740 homes and was first approved by council planners a decade ago.

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The original planning permission from 2013 included space for a neighbourhood centre which included, shops, community facilities, an emergency services post and land for employment to accompany the homes.

Then, after the majority of the homes had been built, a planning application was revealed in 2022 that merged the neighbourhood centre with the employment land and relocated it from the centre of the new estate to its edge on empty land alongside Roman Way.

The applicant Hinton Properties said that the 14,000 square metres of employment land approved in 2013 was now “completely unrealistic” and the neighbourhood centre originally planned had now been deemed “commercially undeliverable.”