Residents use own cars to block 'bully' developer

A developer is in a stand-off with residents after being accused of using "bullying tactics" in a dispute over access to a new housing estate in Worcestershire.

People living next to the planned 30-home development in Drakes Broughton have refused requests by the firm for them to move cars parked at the entrance to the site.

Residents said they have lost parking spaces and have been given no suitable alternatives, while the developer said it had a legal right to access the land.

Pippin Walk resident Laured Kalari said the developer's approach was "some of the most odious" he had witnessed. The developer, Owl Homes, was contacted by the BBC on several occasions for a response.

The row began when housing provider Sanctuary, which owns the existing estate next to the proposed new estate, sold the land to Owl Homes.

The Planning Inspectorate then granted an easement through the existing estate, a cul-de-sac where residents had previously parked their cars.

An easement is a legal right for someone else to use part of a piece of land for a specific purpose.

Wychavon District Council initially rejected plans for the 30 homes, but the development was approved on appeal by the inspectorate in 2024.

"A few weeks prior to construction starting they just knocked the doors and told people they had to move their cars as of so-and-so dates," Kalari said.

"How are you going to make us park 100 metres down the road on gravel when we were given these parking spaces in our tenancy?

"Sanctuary have not been forthcoming. Owl have not been forthcoming.

"It has just been bully tactics after bully tactics after bully tactics. There has been no consideration for anybody's quality of life here."

Kalari said residents had been treated with "absolute disdain", adding: "There has been no communication, no consultation, no off-road compensation, no alternatives."

A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: "We have asked residents of Pippin Walk to ensure the road is kept clear in line with the developer's legal right to enter their site, and to protect emergency vehicle access.

"We are not proposing legal action in relation to this matter unless a further review is required in the future."

The district council declined the BBC's request for comment.

Geraldine Price, whose bungalow sits on the access road, said: "I will never be able to have my windows open again.

"I don't think that's acceptable for a pavement to be six inches away from my bedroom window."

She said she had moved to the street expecting to live next to a "lovely orchard", but now her home was next to a thoroughfare.

"With so many families living on this estate, children going to school, they will be coming past, they are going to take my pavement," Price said, adding: "Where's my security and privacy?"

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