Government drops plans for new West Midlands town – but local bosses refuse to let the project die
Wychavon Town has been left out of a list of ‘new towns’ being taken forward by the government.
But council bosses say nothing has changed and they are still committed to the project.
The development, which will see thousands of new homes built around Worcestershire Parkway railway station, was one of 12 sites assessed by the government following the New Towns Taskforce Report.
However, Wychavon Town is not one of the seven proposed locations for the government’s “next generation” of new towns.
They are Tempsford in Bedfordshire; Crews Hills and Chase Park in Enfield; Leeds South Bank; Manchester Victoria North; Thamesmead, Greenwich; Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc in South Gloucestershire and an expansion of Milton Keynes.
Several planning applications for parts of Wychavon Town have already been submitted and the scheme is included in the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review (SWDPR) – a planning blueprint set to be formally adopted by Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills councils this week.
Wychavon District Council said Wychavon Town will still be part of the Government’s New Homes Accelerator programme and will receive specialist support from Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, to “unblock barriers and speed up delivery of new housing and infrastructure”.
Councillor Emma Kearsey, Wychavon’s executive board member for planning, infrastructure and urban design, said: “We began work to deliver Wychavon Town long before the government decided it would include us in its New Town programme, so this announcement changes nothing for us.
“However, the process behind this decision has been shambolic and simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
“Wychavon Town is better placed than several of the locations on the list to deliver the kind of infrastructure-led development the government says it wants.
“The assessment used to justify this decision contains clear inaccuracies while ignoring strong evidence supporting the site in the SWDPR, which has been tested through public examination.
“We remain committed to delivering Wychavon Town and are confident we are well placed to move forward.
“The government has indicated support will still be available for Wychavon Town and we will be seeking assurances about what this means in reality, particularly around funding.
“But really ministers need to explain how a process that should have been guided by evidence – including the findings of their own Planning Inspectorate – has ended in such a deeply questionable decision.”
Some 5,000 homes are expected to be built in the area by 2041, but there is local opposition and a petition against the scheme has 670 signatures at the time of writing.
We have asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment.