Residents of a Herefordshire village were left angry after a county planning meeting approved a 36-home estate plan despite 342 public objections to it.

Colwall Parish Council chairman David Robinson told the committee of councillors the parish council supported the application by Rosconn Strategic Land to develop land south of Old Church Road in the village, known as Grovesend Farm.

But local resident Adrian Mealing said he we was speaking on behalf of the 40-strong Colwall Revised NDP [neighbourhood development plan] Group, “supported by hundreds of residents”, who were unhappy that the parish council had prioritised it over an alternative site in the village.

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“We want new homes, but not on protected land,” he told councilllors.

The “exceptional number” of local objections to the plan, totalling 342, had also highlighted issues of vehicle access, danger to pedestrians, horses and cyclists, as well as “unresolved” sewage and drainage issues, he said.

“For these reasons, the community is prepared to take any approval by the council to the High Court for judicial review,” he warned.

Committee chair Coun Terry James hit back that “anger and threats do not help anybody’s case, and we’ve had threats of judicial review regularly over the years”.

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Ward councillor Helen Heathfield said that while there was “massive strength of feeling” locally about the scheme, some residents had found the local campaign against it “intimidating” and had not felt able to express support for it.

“There is such strong pressure to develop in Colwall, but by supporting local services, new housing can make it even better,” she said.

For the developer, Elizabeth Bloomfield said the design of the mixed houses met guidance on building in the Malvern Hills national landscape, that habitats would be “enhanced”, while the “uncontrolled” drainage off the sloping site would be “substantially improved”.

With no outstanding technical objections, planners recommended that councillors approve the scheme, but put forward 35 proposed conditions.

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Committee member Coun Stef Simmons said they were “damned if we approve this, damned if we don’t’”, but that planning officers had “helped produce a better development” which she was able to support.

Coun Richard Thomas thought the scheme was “as good as we’re even going to get” and that the proposed landscaping would improve the “plain” field.

And Coun Liz Harvey said: “Reluctantly, I can’t find planning policy reasons to give a robust refusal on this.”

The committee’s decision to grant planning permission was unanimous.