A CONTROVERSIAL new blueprint for 28,370 new homes across south Worcestershire has been backed by councillors - despite uproar over how it has been handled.

A new-look South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), which earmarks land for houses and jobs by 2030, was endorsed by district councils in Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon last night.

It now includes land for an extra 5,200 homes including pubs, a crumbling leisure centre, defunct factories, a former art school, sports ground and assets like the old Royal Worcester Porcelain site, with the beefed-up plan being developed after the last few months on the orders of a Government inspector.

During the debate at Worcester City Council all but six politicians voted for the SWDP, saying without it developers "will have a field day".

But it was again heavily criticised by councillors from all parties, with many saying it was wrong for the plan to have got bigger on the orders of one inspector, Roger Clews.

Labour Councillor Richard Boorn said: "We've gone through this process of getting just 2,000 homes short of the old (now abandoned) Regional Spatial Strategy - and it's cost us £500,000.

"Maybe I'm stupid, but it seems we take it to an inspector and one man alone says 'naah' - it's a fig leaf to democracy, a plan based on fear."

Tory Councillor Mike Whitehouse said: "For many years I used to watch Sooty and Sweep and wonder why someone's hand was controlling the puppets.

"Watching this process, I now know what it's like - this plan is just an illusion of democracy."

Others said they had concerns over the impact upon the roads, with Tory Councillor Roger Knight saying having no Northern Link Road in the plan shows a "lack of foresight".

Councillor Simon Cronin called it "a real dog's dinner" of a plan, saying: "Here in Worcester we are still struggling to get a completed ring road around the city."

Several others paid tribute to the people who have worked on it, and all agreed having an adopted SWDP was better than a free-for-all.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, a Conservative cabinet member, said: "When you don't have a five-year land supply developers run roughshod over you.

"They lose a planning application, take it to appeal, win and then you lose out on all those infrastructure payments."

Councillor Robert Rowden, a former city mayor and leader, said: "The cost to the three authorities has been absolutely tremendous, but not doing this would be a disaster - developers would have a field day."

Five councillors abstained and just one, Green Neil Laurenson voted against, but the others all backed it.

A six-week consultation will now start on Monday, October 6.

The new plan will then go back to Mr Clews who will examine it early next year, with a view to accepting it.

It now includes 67 brand new sites, of which Worcester is taking the brunt with 30 of them.

Malvern has 29 new sites and Wychavon just eight, although 15 existing SWDP sites have been changed to take more housing.

Around 1,600 extra homes have been included within the Worcester city boundaries.

Some of the major changes include:

- Sansome Walk swimming pool in Worcester, which is up for sale by the city council and expected to rake in £500,000, is earmarked for 33 properties

- The Royal Worcester Porcelain site, which retired city businessman Colin Kinnear wants to turn into a £10 million cultural quarter, is earmarked for eight homes 20 homes on the Royal Mail Sorting Office site in Westbury Street

- Two pubs are set for housing, including 15 at the The Bridge Inn, Lowesmoor Terrace, which is still trading, and eight homes at The Cavalier in St George's Lane Lane, which closed down in August

- A £400 million expansion of south Worcester, on fields off Crookbarrow Way in St Peter's, is now deemed capable of taking 2,650 homes instead of 2,400; the land is owned by London-based developers Welbeck

- 60 homes at the former School of Art and Design, Barbourne, which is already being developed and is now part of the SWDP tally

- 17 properties on the site of the current Christian Meeting Room in Diglis Lane, which is privately owned and 45 homes at Malvern Gate in Bromwich Road, St John's

- The former NALGO sports ground in Battenhall Road, for local government workers, is earmarked for 20 homes

- 240 homes on the now-closed Crown Packaging site in Perry Wood Walk and 300 properties in a new 'urban extension' off the A4440 Swinesherd Way, near Spetchley.

The fresh six-week consultation will only be concerned with modifications to the plan, including the proposed sites for the additional homes, not the SWDP as a whole.

Residents will be able to give their views by going to www.swdevelopmentplan.org.

Forms will also be available at public buildings across south Worcestershire, with details due to be confirmed in the coming days.

* More on this story will follow in your Worcester News tomorrow.