Information about the SWDP for Wyre Piddle Residents – November 2019

Have your say on the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review

Decisions that are made will affect you

You may wish to object to the following.

• Removal of the strategic gap separating us from Pershore and Pinvin leading to the loss of identity for our village and the destruction of wildlife habitats.

• The lifting of restrictions on development boundaries likely to lead to pressure for infill developments on land that was previously just outside the development boundary of the village.

• The proposed strategic growth area both sides of the A44 between the Pinvin and Upper Moor roundabouts which would substantially increase the number of houses and therefore the population in the locality, putting strain on the transport and services network in the wider vicinity.

• The effect on existing infrastructure of additional housing around Wyre Piddle and of new infrastructure required to support the proposed new town on Throckmorton Airfield. Proposed expansion of housing, roads and employment sites around Wyre Piddle and the building of a new town at Throckmorton will greatly increase the amount of traffic and pollution and put extra strain on local services.

Please comment to the SWDP review team on the concerns outlined below and add your own if you wish. More details on how to comment provided at the end.

South Worcestershire Development Plan Review
The SWDP has to be reviewed every 5 years. The 6 week consultation period for the new 2021 plan is underway. As part of this a Preferred Options document has been produced. It sets out how the Government requirement to build another 14,000 new homes across Wychavon by 2041 will be met. This is on top of the need for around a further 28,400 new homes by 2030, to be built under the current plan, of which about half have already been built. More than 900 sites have been put forward in the SWDP review for potential development and have been assessed against a range of criteria. To find out more visit www.swdevelopmentplan.org.

Implications for Wyre Piddle
Councils are under pressure from the government to provide sufficient housing for our growing population and of course everyone deserves to have somewhere to live. However there are some areas of concern set out below. The Parish Council will be commenting on the proposals in due course. In the meantime the more people who put their views forward to Wychavon Council the better.
Wyre Piddle is one of the smallest villages in Wychavon and is classed as a category 4b village which has a low to medium level of public transport provision and low provision of services and facilities. This means that there is limited capacity for further development.

Strategic Gap
Wychavon Council are intending to remove the ‘strategic gap’ separating Wyre Piddle from Pershore and Pinvin.
Previously Wychavon Council have stated there was a need to retain the essentially open character between the northern boundary of the built up area of Pershore and the villages of Pinvin and Wyre Piddle, in order to preserve the separate identities of those villages. This may indicate that in the longer term Wychavon have decided to allow the coalescence of Pershore, Pinvin and Wyre Piddle. Any development in this area would intrude into the openness and threaten the distinct identity of Wyre Piddle.

Development Boundary
Wychavon Council intend to remove the development boundary from around the village, this is likely to lead to pressure for infill developments on land that was previously just outside the development boundary of the village. Changes to development boundaries may result in the destruction of natural habitats and the loss of agricultural land and have a negative effect on the village.

Strategic Growth Area
It has come to light that there is a proposed ‘strategic growth area’ either side of the A44 between the Pinvin roundabout and the Upper Moor roundabout. This would have major implications for Wyre Piddle as it would substantially increase the number of houses and therefore the population in the locality, putting strain on the transport and services network in the wider vicinity. It will mean building on arable farmland that is currently being intensively farmed. The land is also adjacent to Piddle Brook which is an area well known for flooding. Some areas of this land are susceptible to surface water flooding which may only be worsened by development in the area, and the effects of climate change which we are already experiencing. It is unlikely that old drainage systems will be able to cope with the increased burden, and thus sewer and surface water flooding could become much more prevalent.

Housing built on this land could also bring with it increased traffic within the village, depending upon where the planners decide to put access roads. Throckmorton airfield and surrounding land is also designated as a strategic growth area, with current proposals for 2,000 houses with plans for a further 4,000 houses. Schools, surgeries and shops are also proposed but currently there are no firm proposals for us to comment on.

Infrastructure
Building more homes will naturally put greater pressure on our existing infrastructure networks. With no change to them, roads will become more congested, schools and hospitals will be at capacity, parking at local shopping centres will become increasingly difficult and everyone will suffer. Proposed expansion of housing, roads and employment sites around Wyre Piddle and the building of a new town at Throckmorton will greatly increase the amount of traffic and pollution; however it seems that there will be little investment to our existing roads to mitigate the proposed increase, despite work on Pinvin crossroads and the northern bypass. The new strategic growth area proposed at Throckmorton airfield also covers open countryside outside the airfield boundary. There are also concerns about where it is intended to access this site from existing roads or whether new roads will be built.

How to Comment
It is vital that you have your say on these proposals if you care about the area in which you live. All comments need to be submitted by 5pm on Monday 16 December 2019.
Comments are encouraged through the Consultation Portal, available on the South Worcestershire Development Plan website under ‘Preferred Options Consultation’. Or on a Comments Form which can be accessed on the same site. You can also comment by email to or by post to South Worcestershire Development Plan, Wychavon Civic Centre, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Pershore, Worcestershire, WR10 1PT.

In addition to sending in your comments you may also wish to make your views known to the parish council, so your comments can be taken into consideration when we make our reply to Wychavon. Email