A FRESH consultation has been launched over a housing blueprint which earmarks land across south Worcestershire for 23,000 new properties.

Residents are being handed one more chance to have a say on the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), which runs to 2030.

It includes 9,400 properties in Worcester, 4,900 in Malvern and 8,900 in Wychavon.

Among the major proposed developments are 410 homes in Droitwich; more than 100 in Kempsey, near Worcester; 100 in Hartlebury; and 140 on the Gregory’s Bank Industrial Estate in Barbourne, Worcester.

Last month the blueprint was accepted by councils in Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon, paving the way for it to be accepted by the Government. Now people in the county are being asked for their views.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, deputy leader of Worcester City Council and chairman of the SWDP joint advisory panel, said: “This consultation is not about the actual proposals in the plan – so it’s not a chance for local people to suggest a new site for employment use or to call for homes to be built elsewhere.

“Instead it’s a chance for people to say if we’ve addressed the necessary legal and procedural tests.

“Have we got the evidence to back our proposals? Have we followed all the rules about how a local plan should be compiled?”

He said it was a final test of the plan before it gets sent to the Government for the next stage of the process.

In November, Malvern Hills District Council voted to send the SWDP back to the drawing board over concerns on housing allocations in areas including Newland and south Worcester. But last month councillors did a U-turn and decided to back it after widespread criticism and the threat of legal action from Worcester City Council.

To get involved in the latest consultation, log on to the website swdevelopmentplan. org, or visit your nearest library or council headquarters.

Forms can be posted to South Worcestershire Development Plan Team, Freepost RLTS-XRLK-AKGK, Orchard House, Farrier Street, Worcester, WR1 3BB.