Commitment to Wychavon Town remains

Wychavon has confirmed its commitment to developing Wychavon Town after the Government announced it would not be one of its flagship New Towns.

The proposed development around Worcestershire Parkway Railway Station was one of 12 sites the Government was assessing following the New Towns Taskforce Report. The Government has now confirmed just seven locations will be taken forward as New Towns during this Parliament, with Wychavon Town not on the list.

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.

Several planning applications have already been submitted for Wychavon Town and will be considered later this year. A consultation on the Infrastructure Planning Application, to ensure Wychavon Town has the schools, roads, and other facilities needed to support new housing, will take place this summer.

Cllr 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 South Worcestershire Development Plan Review, which has been tested through public examination.

In contrast to the Government, our work on Wychavon Town has been built on partnership and proper consultation. We have worked closely with Homes England, landowners and local communities, giving people real opportunities to have their say and shaping proposals around that feedback.

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.”

Wychavon Town will see 10,000 high-quality, energy-efficient homes built on the site, with 5,000 of them delivered by 2041. There will also be a new town centre, four parks, primary and secondary schools, a sports hub and sports pitches, a GP and healthcare centre, flexible community spaces and 50 ha of employment land.

Visit the Wychavon Town website to find out more about the development.