Residents of a Worcestershire cul-de-sac are parking their cars to block access to a proposed 30-home estate, after developer Owl Properties claimed it has a legal right to use the road.
Homeowners and social housing tenants on Pippin Walk, in Drakes Broughton, say they were given little warning that the narrow route could become the main entrance for construction vehicles and future traffic.
They have refused requests to move vehicles parked outside their homes, accusing Owl Properties and housing provider Sanctuary of bullying and intimidation.
Geraldine Price, a 70-year-old NHS administrator, said she and her husband Alan, 75, feared losing the gravel and grass frontage of their bungalow, where they have lived for three years.
“It’s a nightmare for anyone who enjoys the peace and quiet of living around here,” she said. “We face the prospect of never being able to open our front sitting room windows and losing the pavement and gravel frontage at the side of our home to make way for widening the road.”
Mrs Price, who is disabled, said the couple had always parked outside their home legitimately under their tenancy agreement. She added that representatives had visited residents and told them to move their cars.
“The bullying tactics have upset us and made us feel really upset,” she said. “The idea of having cars and people going by inches from our front window is horrendous. It’s not just about privacy but genuine fears about health and safety.”
Residents challenge Pippin Walk access plans
The dispute began after an independent landowner sold the field earmarked for development to Owl Properties. The sale included a legally recognised easement agreement believed to have been in place since 2017, when Sanctuary bought a separate development site that includes Pippin Walk.
Builder Martin Huxley, 49, who has rented his home from Sanctuary for almost four years, is chairing a newly formed residents’ association opposing the proposed access route.
He said residents should have been told about the easement when they moved into the estate. According to Mr Huxley, Sanctuary had repeatedly said that the roads and pavements would be completed and adopted by the local authority, but that had not happened.
“Owl had a road access point on the other side of the field in Stonebow Road turned down by the planning authority so now they are trying to use our cul-de-sac instead,” he said.
Mr Huxley said residents first learned of the easement only a few months ago, when Sanctuary and Owl representatives began visiting homes. Some elderly and disabled residents had since been directed to park on gravel at the end of the road, where spaces had been marked with yellow paint.
Retired school worker Tracy Price, 61, said she had an autistic son and that another resident cared for a disabled daughter. She said their needs had not been properly considered as building traffic was planned.
“Being approached out of the blue and told you no longer have the right to park outside your own home has felt really intimidating,” she said.
Mrs Price, a blue badge holder who uses a walker because of arthritis, said she had chosen the cul-de-sac because she wanted to avoid congestion and traffic. “It feels like this has been a fait accompli,” she said.
One unnamed homeowner said 30 new homes could mean about 60 vehicles travelling along the road, in addition to construction traffic and disruption. “I’m not moving my car,” she said.
Sanctuary said the development was not its site and that the decision to approve the access route had been taken by the local planning authority. It said residents had been asked to keep the road clear in line with the developer’s legal right to enter the site and to protect emergency vehicle access.
The housing provider said it was not proposing legal action over the matter unless a further review was required in the future.
Owl Properties said it would not comment. Wychavon District Council, which granted the development plans, also declined to comment, describing the situation as a land dispute rather than a planning issue.
