Consultation Portal

The villages and hamlets across South Worcestershire are characterised by close knit communities that in many places, retain links with the traditional rural economy as well as providing varying ranges of services to their local communities, e.g. post office, village shop, community hall, public houses. The retention of these facilities, and where possible, the provision of additional services is essential in achieving sustainable patterns of development.  Limited access to shops and services in the main towns, by means other than car, remains a problem for some parts of the rural areas and contributes to rural deprivation.  Public transport is very limited, which inevitably leads to high levels of journeys by car for services and out commuting for work.

In terms of local distinctiveness the range of architectural styles, settlement patterns, and landscape settings across South Worcestershire vary considerably. This creates strong individual patterns of development influenced by the building styles and varied landscapes.  It is important that these features are recognised and reflected in new development, and where appropriate conserved and enhanced. Ensuring the integrity of settlements is also important and villages in the north benefit from the West Midlands Green Belt designation (established to prevent towns from merging) whilst in other places Strategic/Significant Gaps will seek to maintain open countryside between smaller settlements.  Landscape setting is also important and a number of the rural villages of South Worcestershire are covered by national and local landscape designations, e.g. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Feedback from the Issues and Options consultation together with the Sustainability Appraisal suggests that a proportion of South Worcestershire's growth should be directed to those villages that have a range of local services.

Some housing, to meet local needs within rural areas, will be directed to specified Category 1 and 2 villages.  A proportion of housing to meet local affordable needs will be directed to these settlements and possibly Category  3 villages (Issue 5, Option 3 and 4) as appropriate.  This is to help maintain the continued viability of the settlements, sustaining services and facilities for the communities that live within them. 

The South Housing Market Area Study identifies a clear need to deliver more affordable homes, particularly in rural areas, to meet the high levels of local need.  The Housing Needs Assessment as supplemented by Parish Needs Assessments or parish plans where appropriate, will quantify the level of need for individual rural settlements.   The development of ‘Exception Sites’ will continue to provide for an element of affordable housing need in rural areas.  However, there is a need to increase the numbers of affordable homes provided in the rural areas beyond the levels currently coming forward through exception sites.  Therefore, new policy mechanisms such as potential allocations for 100% affordable homes will be considered.  However, it will be necessary to ensure that balanced, mixed communities are delivered.  This will include recognising the possible need for some limited market housing in appropriate Category 1 and 2 settlements.

The decline in rural services and community facilities, such as shops/post offices or public houses, is a major issue for rural populations particularly for those who are dependent on public transport.  Many rural community facilities, such as village halls, although often well used and valued may be in need of replacement and the Joint Core Strategy will provide a flexible approach to securing new community facilities.    

The South Worcestershire rural economy has changed significantly particularly with regard to farming and horticulture.  The rural areas also have numerous existing businesses including industrial, research and office developments. Although isolated rural locations do not generally comply with the aim of sustainable development, these businesses contribute to the local economy. Their sustained viability may require small-scale expansion or intensification. Given the nature of national planning guidance there will inevitably be pressure to redevelop some existing business sites, in particular for housing. However, these sites are important to the rural economy and their loss may have a negative effect on both the local economy and the desire to achieve sustainable development.  Furthermore, the re-use of previously developed land in locations where development would be unsustainable or intrusive in the countryside will be resisted.

Tourism and leisure is one of the most important and diverse sectors of the rural economy and there is potential for the local tourism industry to grow in a way sensitive to the character of the area. Support will be given to small-scale attractions based on enjoying the countryside, historic towns and villages, churches, events, festivals, and waterways.  Any associated holiday accommodation should also be small scale and low key to reflect the nature of rural areas.

Within the rural areas it is envisaged that only Category 1 and 2 settlements will be defined by reference to detailed settlement boundaries which will be brought forward through the proposed Allocations Development Plan Document. This reflects the position than Category 3 settlements, due to their limited range of facilities and public transport access, will have a much reduced role in meeting local housing needs (primarily affordable housing provision only in the form of exception sites) and no specific role in meeting local employment needs.

The Preferred Spatial Strategy supports or delivers the following Spatial Objectives derived from the Sustainable Community Strategies:

Direct a higher proportion of new development to the main urban areas and market towns. These locations are not capable of taking additional growth without significant investment in new infrastructure, the delivery of which cannot be guaranteed.

 Direct new development only to Category 1 villages only.  This would prejudice limited growth to Category 2 and 3 villages to support services and deliver housing for which there is a clear identifiable need.

Evidence from the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment clearly suggests that the supply of deliverable housing sites greatly exceeds the numbers required even if additional Regional Spatial Strategy growth materialises, although much is not in sustainable locations.  Therefore there will be a need to prepare a Site Allocations Development Plan Document in order to set out the boundaries of new housing sites in sustainable locations.  The Preferred Option also proposes to identify, through the Site Allocations Development Plan Document, development boundaries for Category 1 and 2 villages allowing windfall development to take place post 2011.