A MAJOR plan to build a new £600,000 community hall in Pershore was finally approved after months of delays.

Pershore Town Council finally had its plan to build a new hall on land next to Pershore Cemetery, off Defford Road, to accommodate the town’s growing population.

The plan was twice deferred by Wychavon District Council's planning committee

The town council had said Pershore needed a new venue that could accommodate more than 100 people - particularly for wedding receptions - because existing spaces were already well-used and availability had become extremely limited.

At a meeting of Wychavon District Council's planning committee on Thursday (April 4), some of Pershore's district councillors remained opposed to the plan.

Councillor Val Wood said the new village hall was not fully supported by Pershore and it was wrong for the town council to claim it was.

She was “astounded” highways officers had not found any safety issues with the busy Defford Road – particularly with more people due to use the road because of the new hall.

Cllr Tony Rowley said he supported the building but disagreed with it being the best location and was outside the development boundary.

Cllr Rowley said it was a significant reason which the planning committee could use to reject the plan.

Cllr Rob Adams said: “You’ve had two bites of the cherry at this and deferred it twice, it’s time to swallow the damn cherry and make a decision. You can’t do anything but approve this. It’s going to be a lovely little hall.

“I don’t subscribe that it’s out of the town centre.”

Cllr Richard Lasota said the hall was in the wrong location but it was the only offer on the table and the committee had no choice but to approve it.

Cllr Charles Tucker said Pershore Town Council’s consultation on a village hall had fell “well short” of the district council’s guidelines.

The plan was backed by seven votes to two with two abstentions.