SWDP Summary Document 2011

DevelopmentPlanSOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE September 2011 Public Consultation Summary Document The Preferred Options are open to Public Consultation from 26 September to 18 November 2011 Published in September 2011 by The South Worcestershire Development Plan Team The South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) is a planning framework, which aims to ensure that development has a positive impact on the area. It is being jointly prepared by the three local authorities and communities of Malvern Hills, Wychavon and Worcester City. It considers the long term vision and objectives for South Worcestershire and will contain the policies for delivering these objectives in a planned and cohesive manner. We welcome views from everyone as they are critical to the future plans of the area. Contents Introduction 1 Introduction 3 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan 2 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan? 4 3 What is the Preferred Options Document? 8 4 How can I have my say? 9 5 Future Stages 10 What is our Vision? 6 What is our vision for South Worcestershire? 11 7 Sustainable Development Principles 15 8 Strategic Policies 16 Key Proposals 9 The Key Proposals 18 10 Jobs 19 11 Homes 20 12 Key Diagram 21 13 Delivery of Infrastructure 22 14 Environment 23 Housing Overview 15 Housing Sites in Urban and Rural Areas 24 16 Worcester 25 17 Droitwich Spa 27 Contents 18 Evesham 28 19 Malvern 30 20 Pershore 32 21 Tenbury Wells 33 22 Upton-upon-Severn 34 23 Rural Housing 36 Guiding the Future Character of South Worcestershire 24 Guiding the Future Character of South Worcestershire 38 25 Development Management Policies 39 Contact us 26 Contact us 43 Introduction 1 View of Broadway Tower 1.1 This document is intended to encourage you to find out more about the South Worcestershire Development Plan and how it may affect the area where you live, work or visit in the next 20 years. 1.2 This summary gives only a flavour of the contents of the Preferred Options for the Development Plan. It does not include the detailed wording or full background information. 1.3 If you wish to understand the details more fully, and decide to complete and return a comments form, please refer to the full version of the document, available at www.swdevelopmentplan.org. Hard copies are available at the three councils’ Customer Service Centres and local libraries listed at the end of this document, at the roadshow or by contacting an Officer on: 01905 722233. 3 2 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan? 2.1 In order to manage future development, Malvern Hills, Worcester City and Wychavon Councils have joined together to prepare a Development Plan with the aim of ensuring that new development within South Worcestershire is well planned. It is called the South Worcestershire Development Plan.It will guide the amount and location of employment, housing and other development, as well as set out policies to protect and enhance the environment up to the year 2030. 2.2 Each local council is required to produce a Development Plan.With the election of the coalition Government in May 2010, responsibility for assessing the need for housing and employment development needed in the area in the next 20 years has shifted from the regional to a more local level. The three South Worcestershire councils have therefore reviewed progress on the Development Plan to ensure a more ‘bottom-up approach’. 2.3 The proposals build on the work done between 2007 and 2010 on the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy. Much of the research behind the Joint Core Strategy has been used in preparing the draft South Worcestershire Development Plan Preferred Options, but our approach to providing housing has changed and many of the proposed housing sites are now either smaller than previously or have been removed from the proposals altogether. 2.4 The new proposals differ from the Joint Core Strategy in several significant ways and are discussed in further detail below. However the main changes include: The focus on supporting and delivering economic growth and jobs Housing numbers are now driven by assessments of more local needs, not top down regional targets Approximately 20,000 new homes are proposed – around 20% less than in the Joint Core Strategy 40% of the homes required by 2030 have already either been built, given planning permission or had sites allocated to them. That means that, in the 19 years remaining until 2030, locations only need to be found for another 12,000 homes Worcester City has been able to identify land for half of the city’s housing growth within its administrative area, reducing the need for expansion beyond the city boundaries Although extensions adjacent to Worcester are proposed, what used to be the largest site – to the west of the city – will include around 2,500 fewer dwellings than were proposed in the Joint Core Strategy In Malvern Hills and Wychavon, it is proposed to have a smaller proportion of new homes built in the main towns. There will also be new housing built in rural villages, with the aim of supporting the needs of the local population. 2.5 We are now at the first stage of consulting – setting out the options of where development might go and suggesting a framework to guide how decisions are made - which is the ‘Preferred Options’ stage. 4 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan? 2 2.6 The amount of future employment and housing development suggested in the Preferred Options is no longer led by targets set by the West Midlands Regional Assembly (in a document called the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy). The Preferred Options also places greater emphasis on promoting economic prosperity for the benefit of South Worcestershire as a whole. However, population and the number of households across the area will obviously grow and change with a higher proportion of natural change (i.e., more births than deaths) in Worcester’s population and continuing trends of migration from within the West Midlands to both Wychavon and Malvern Hills Districts. In terms of housing, this means there is still a need for housing development over the next 20 years. Recent evidence on population change is provided by the Government’s household estimates for 2008 and population projections to 2030.These support an overall reduction against the previous regional housing targets, from 24,500 dwellings to a total of some 20,000 houses over 20 years for the whole of South Worcestershire. 2.7 It is also important that enough job opportunities are provided locally, alongside the projected housing numbers, and that South Worcestershire’s economy is supported and encouraged to grow.Therefore the proposals provide for approximately 300 hectares of employment land up to 2030. Table 1: Preferred Options Level of development across South Worcestershire to 2030. Dwellings to be Employment land to be provided between provided between 2006-2030 2006-2030 (hectares) Worcester City 8,402 124 Wychavon District 7,803 146 Malvern Hills 4,156 39 Total 20,361 309 2.8 Approximately 40% of the housing development and over 65% of the employment land has already been built or has been given approval to go ahead. 5 2 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan? Provision for community facilities is required. View of play equipment at Pershore 2.9 This new development will need facilities such as shops, schools, open spaces, health and community facilities to support residents and employees. At the same time a transport network will be required to make services and facilities more accessible, offering alternative ways to travel to help reduce dependence on private motor vehicles, in line with the Government’s target on reducing CO2 emissions. Shopping facilities are important. Waitrose, view from Gurney's Lane Droitwich Spa 2.10 It is also essential to address the difficult task of protecting and improving South Worcestershire’s high quality environment, and the Development Plan puts forward strategies and policies to help achieve this. These include policies to retain 6 Why a South Worcestershire Development Plan? 2 green spaces, conserve the character of the urban and rural settlements, promote high standards of design and support tourism. In addition, policies are proposed to deal with flooding and wider issues concerning future changes to the climate. 7 3 What is the Preferred Options Document? 3.1 This is the first formal stage in the production of the Development Plan and it builds on the responses since 2007 from residents, businesses and others on the previous South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy. Those responses and the background evidence have helped to identify the main planning issues that will face our area over the next 20 years. 3.2 The Preferred Options is not a first draft of the Development Plan, but a consultation document. It sets out a range of proposals which we would welcome your views on. It has been written taking into account: Feedback from communities on their needs and aspirations; Assessment against national planning policy; Technical evidence gathered from a wide range of studies reflecting strategies from service and infrastructure organisations, and utilities. In particular, the objectives of the Sustainable Community Strategy for Worcestershire that covers South Worcestershire; A Sustainability Appraisal that assesses the social, economic and environmental impacts of the proposals. 8 How can I have my say? 4 4.1 There is a formal eight-week consultation period from 26 September to 18 November 2011. This will allow local people and businesses the opportunity to have their say on the proposals. Comments on the proposals can also be made at: www.swdevelopmentplan.org Views can also be submitted in writing to: The South Worcestershire Development Plan Team Orchard House, Farrier Street, Worcester, WR1 3BB.

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