Local Plan Review Preferred Options

The new Local Plan will shape the future of Wyre Forest District up to 2036.

It will guide key issues like:

• New Housing – where will it go? How many homes? Will it include affordable housing?
• Provision for new employment – how much is needed and where should it go? 
• What supporting infrastructure and services (e.g.transport, schools, health) will be needed?
• In the face of new development how will the natural environment be protected?

It is important we have a Local Plan so we can make sure the right development happens in the right places. If we don't review and adopt an up-to-date Local Plan, development will still happen in our district, but decisions will be taken based on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) - without local people having a say on setting local policies. 

This is the second stage of the Local Plan Review. It takes into account the Issues and Options consultation from late 2015 along with other studies we have carried out.

Consultation is now closed.

A summary of all responses received will be made available in 2018.

The consultation accords with the Town and Country (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as set out in the Statement of Community Involvement.

The Local Plan Review Preferred Options consultation has now closed.

As part of the Local Plan Review, we produced a ‘Preferred Options’ document for consultation which took into account the Issues and Options consultation carried out in late 2015 along with the body of evidence that the District has now developed. The consultation on the Preferred Options document was held for 8 weeks ending on Monday 14^th August 2017 at 5pm. The consultation was held in accordance with the Town and Country (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as set out in the Statement of Community Involvement.

During the consultation 8 drop-in sessions took place throughout the District between 10 July and 4 August where members of the public were encouraged to come along and have their say.

The Preferred Options document identified two potential approaches to how Wyre Forest District might meet its development requirements in the period up to 2038 along with proposed strategic, development management and allocation policies.

Preferred Option A

• The additional development is more concentrated, with a significant amount to the east/south east of Kidderminster.
• Includes the option for an Eastern Relief Road for Kidderminster due to the concentration of the development, which will help reduce traffic congestion in the town centre and improve traffic volumes in neighbouring estates. Exact detail and route for road would be subject to planning application. 
• Enable more effective school provision.

Preferred Option B

• The additional development is more widely spread around the district, mostly around Stourport-on-Severn and Lea Castle area.
• Doesn't support the option for an Eastern Relief road.
• Removes slightly less land from Green Belt as proposed sites west of the River Severn are outside of the Green Belt. 
• Educational provision would be harder to manage.

View the Preferred Options document.

Thank you to everyone who attended a drop-in session and to those who have responded to the consultation, which closed on Monday 14^th August at 5pm.

All of the consultation responses received will now be carefully analysed and considered to inform the next stage of the emerging Local Plan. Due to the large number of consultation responses received, we will publish a report summarising the consultation responses made to the Local Plan Review Preferred Options document in 2018. The Project Plan can be viewed here.

The next step will be to progress the emerging local Plan to the Pre-Submission stage after taking into consideration all the consultation responses received and further evidence base studies.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is required during the preparation of a Local Plan. The local planning authority must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the proposals. This will help the authority to assess how the plan will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.  Sustainability appraisal is integral to the preparation and development of a Local Plan, so work should start at the same time that work starts on developing the plan.

The Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal Report was prepared alongside the Preferred Options document. Further SA work will be undertaken as the emerging Local Plan progresses to the next stage of plan making.

View the Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal Report (May 2017) 

A ‘Call for Sites’ was undertaken as part of the Preferred Options consultation which has now closed. The information gathered from this latest Call for Sites will now be assessed and an update of the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) will be made available in due course. This technical evidence base will help to inform the allocation of sites which will be identified at the Pre-Submission stage of the Local Plan process. In order to finalise the HELAA, we will not be accepting any further potential sites.

Please note that the submission of a site does not mean that the site will be allocated for development in the Local Plan. A ‘Call for Sites’ is simply a means to establish which sites could potentially come forward for future development for the Council to consider as part of the Local Plan process.