PLANS to turn a derelict Clent hotel into apartments have been criticised by residents living nearby.

An application has been submitted to Bromsgrove District Council to turn the 15-bedroom Mount Hotel in Mount Lane into seven apartments - and to build three new detached homes nearby.

The boarded-up building, which has become a haven for fly-tippers and squatters, has been lying empty since a fire broke out in July 2008 causing £500,000 worth of damage.

 

But a number of residents fear putting new homes on the site near the picturesque Clent Hills would spoil the conservation area and generate too much extra traffic in an already narrow lane used mostly by walkers, horse riders and pedestrians.

Gavin Stevenson, of Odnall Lane, said: “There are currently about ten properties which use Mount lane for access and this new development will add a further ten.

 

“The doubling of traffic will clearly cause many more occurences of having to back-up to allow traffic to pass. When you throw in having to negotiate pedestrians as well, this will make it even more dangerous.”

The design of the proposed development has also been criticised by villager Steve Gannon, of Adams Hill, as a “poor pastiche of existing architecture”.

Distict and parish councillor Margaret Sherrey said she would be making sure the views of affected residents are heard.

She said: “Something needs to be done desperately but it doesn’t need to be over developed and it needs to be sympathetic to the area.”

The plan is expected to go before Bromsgrove District Council planners on September 17.