Worcestershire Parkway lined up for housing boost
Already inked in for 10,000 homes, a 2,800-acre area around the recently opened railway station is one of 12 locations picked out for expanded and accelerated delivery by the New Towns Taskforce’s report to government.
Released at the start of the week as the ruling Labour Party’s annual conference kicked off in Liverpool, the report calls for a new towns programme to be backed. The independent taskforce was chaired y regeneration veteran Sir Michael Lyons.
Welcoming all 12 recommended locations, the government said it is determined to begin building in at least three new towns in this Parliament and is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible.
The sites at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Crews Hill in Enfield and Leeds South Bank look most promising at this stage, in the government’s view.
A New Towns Unit will also be established by the government to progress development on new towns. The Unit will work with all departments and their agencies to ensure new towns are a test bed for innovation and to unblock barriers to delivery.
In its report, the taskforce recommended a mixture of large-scale communities including urban extensions, urban regeneration, and standalone greenfield sites should be built.
It said each new town should have at least 10,000 homes with an ambition for a minimum of 40% affordable housing and half of which will be for social rent. The Taskforce has also set out a range of recommendations for delivery, including the importance of accountable delivery bodies who are able to provide long term certainty.
A strategic environmental assessment will be undertaken to understand the environmental implications of developing new towns. The government will look for local buy-in, and is hoping to publish draft proposals and a final SEA for consultation in spring.
Located in Wychavon, south-east of Worcester, Worcestershire Parkway opened in 2020, the county’s first new station in a century. There are currently plans for 10,000 homes on this site, but new town designation has the potential to bolster the speed and scale of delivery, according to the Taskforce report.
The report went on: “New town designation would not only boost this delivery but also ensure quality of placemaking and sustainability by adopting the New Towns Taskforce placemaking principles.
“Worcestershire Parkway benefits from supportive and ambitious local leadership and drive. The development’s proposal is well-progressed and mature, ensuring pacy delivery of needed new homes in the region. An accelerated and expanded programme in the delivery of new homes here would be accompanied by high-quality infrastructure and take advantage of strong existing and proposed transport links.”
Through the station, the area would boast direct rail links to Birmingham (inside 30 minutes), Cardiff, Bristol, Lonon and Oxford.
Even before the taskforce’s report, 5,000 homes were expected to be delivered by 2041, with local councils Worcester City, Malvern Hills and Wychavon District all backing the area’s development, housing affordability being a major problem for Worcestershire.
