Council and developer reach deal after injunction served over highways issues

Wychavon District Council has reached a formal legal agreement with Persimmon Homes after the local authority served an injunction requiring the developer to cease work on a site in Droitwich until it resolved highways issues.

These related to the Yew Tree Hill development and in particular the widening of Pulley Lane and works to the junction of Pulley Lane and the A38.

The council said a consent order had now been put in place which would enable Persimmon Homes to continue work on site subject to a commitment to undertake the necessary highway improvements as soon as possible and put in place a mitigation scheme by 10 February 2017.

The details of the consent order were accepted by Worcestershire County Council and agreed by a High Court judge on Wednesday (1 February).

The council said: “This scheme basically means that Persimmon will undertake all necessary work to the highway required by their planning permission but any further breach of the consent order will result in a return to court.”

Persimmon had agreed to pay the legal costs of the council, it added.

In a statement made after the injunction was served but before agreement was reached, David Hammond, Housing and Planning Manager at Wychavon, said: “The highways issues relate to our concerns that construction traffic could meet other road traffic, cyclists and pedestrians on a road that is currently too narrow, unsuitable and unsafe for construction vehicles.

“By beginning development on site and selling homes, Persimmon is in breach of a planning condition that was imposed by the Secretary of State on 2 July 2014, a condition that clearly states that in the interests of public safety, the necessary highways work should have been completed before any development took place.”