A PLAN to build two homes in the back garden of a congested residential area looks set to be rejected for not having enough car parking spaces.

Residents and ward councillors spoke out against a plan to convert an old outbuilding into two small homes in Sebright Avenue in Worcester after the county council’s highways departments said it should be refused for not even providing any new car parking spaces in an already crowded and congested street.

Worcester City Council's planning committee refused the plan but as it went against the recommendation of planning officers, a final decision will be made by councillors at a later date.

Councillor Louise Griffiths, who represents Battenhall, said the street was already filled with cars parking on the pavement which made it very difficult for pedestrians – particularly those with pushchairs, mobility scooters and wheelchairs – who were forced to walk in the road.

Cllr Griffiths, who had requested for the application to be decided by the committee, also said the driveway to the side of the existing home was far too small even for two cars as one car would always be blocked in.

Several neighbours in Sebright Avenue, Camp Hill Avenue and London Road had objected to the plan saying allowing the work to go ahead would also invade their privacy.

The currently empty two-storey outbuilding in the garden of a home in Sebright Avenue, which was previously used as a timber workshop and storage, would be converted into one two-bed and another one-bed home.

The existing home would remain but a small porch area would be demolished, as well as another single-storey outbuilding, to make way for a small private garden for the new homes.

City council planning officers had recommended the plan should be approved when the committee meets next Thursday (June 25) despite highways colleagues at Worcestershire County Council saying it should be refused because it does not propose to provide any extra parking other than two spaces on the existing driveway.

Cllr Louis Stephen, who also represents Battenhall, said the plan was essentially looking to build a new house in the garden of a row of terraced homes.

Cllr Stephen said he could not understand why the council’s highways department would set a standard for parking only for it to be ignored.

“Why would you go against the county council recommendation for parking standards to increase the amount of parking we have in the area?” he told the city council’s planning committee at a meeting on Thursday (June 25).