Many of you will have received through your letterbox a consultation document from RCA Regeneration.
We would encourage everyone to respond to the consultation via the QR code/link in the letter.
For several years the Parish Council has been aware that there has been a retainer on this land between the company and the landowner, but various approaches to the local authorities have gone nowhere. Clearly, they are now trying to move it along on the back of the South-West Development Plan Review (SWDPR – a.k.a Wychavon Town) development.
However, several parts of what is contained in the letter are factually inaccurate. Their statement in para 3. that ‘Wychavon must deliver far more new homes to meet the needs of the area’ is at odds with the Government Inspectors findings in the SWDPR Main Modifications document, in which the Inspector removed the need for the allocation of housing from existing Wychavon Settlements entirely, stating that ‘no housing requirement for designated neighbourhood areas are identified in this Plan and are not needed to meet the minimum plan period requirements to 2041.’…i.e. Wychavon Town delivers the new home requirement to 2041.
Also, SWDPR Policy 03 says ‘Development Boundaries identify the boundary between a settlement’s built-up area and the countryside and are intended to reflect the physical built edge of a settlement.’….the area identified is outside of the existing development boundary (i.e. where development is permitted around existing settlements) and would fill some of the gap between Norton and Littleworth, thereby threatening the rural character of the parish and its’ individual settlements.
The proposed access off Wadborough Road would destroy Local Green Space site 11 in the Norton-juxta-Kempsey Neighbourhood Plan (NP – while currently under review, no green space will be reduced or removed as part of the review). Traffic access onto the bend on Wadborough Road, Pound House farm becoming an island with roads all around, and easy access to Worcestershire Parkway by bicycle or on foot via Woodbury Lane, are all nonsensical and need to be challenged.
There are many stages of permissions that this needs to go through before anyone could even think about building, but now is the time to make your feelings known, by responding to the consultation via the QR code/link. The Parish Council will respond separately to RCA Regeneration, ensuring that Wychavon District Council and the SWDPR planners are aware of what they are proposing, and we will feed back should we learn anything more.