A PLAN to build more than 100 homes on land to the west of Worcester has been given the green light by councillors.

The University of Worcester put forward the plan to build 120 homes on its University Park site off Bromyard Road in Worcester earlier this year effectively ending its decade-long ambition to build a £100 million science, health and enterprise hub.

Worcester City Council’s planning committee backed the plans at a meeting on Thursday (July 9).

Cllr Chris Cawthorne, who represents St John’s, said she was very concerned by the lack of public transport on that side of the city and warned St John’s would be “swamped with cars” if nothing was done to address the problem.

“I do welcome new housing but my main concern is about the appalling lack of public transport,” she said to councillors.

“The bus company promised that in due course they would increase the orbit of the number 30 bus down Bromyard Road but that has not happened.

“I do really want to see something down about public transport down this road otherwise St John’s is just going to be swamped with cars.

Cllr Pat Agar said the plan was a “no brainer” but it was very important the county council continued to work on boosting public transport on the edge of the city.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has asked for £82,000 but the city council’s planning report has said the developer should not be forced to hand the money over as NHS funding is the responsibility of the government.

However, council planning officers said they were still working on how to spend other developer contributions - known as community infrastructure levy (CIL) money- which the council uses to build and improve new facilities in neighbourhoods with new developments.

Cllr Alan Amos said the plan was not sustainable as there was no public transport that served the area.

“There is no public transport to these developments,” he said. “None at all.

“The NHS have told us about their dire concerns about yet more residential development, there are no shops there and there are no other facilities there. This idea that it is sustainable is laughable.”

The university bought the 27-acre site from Tesco in 2009 but failed to attract enough interest from business partners to transform it into an enterprise and science hub.