COUNCIL chiefs have launched a consultation into its latest version of its Local Plan that will shape Wyre Forest over the next two decades.

Residents, local businesses and stakeholders are being asked to have their say before the Local Plan is submitted to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate to be examined.

The Local Plan outlines how the district council is planning for this generation and the next.

It is proposed to build thousands of homes across the district between now and 2036, as well where new employment areas should be and what additional services, such as transport and schools, will be needed to support development up until 2036.

Among the proposals are for a new village at Lea Castle with 1,400 homes as well as a similar number of new houses being built on the east of Kidderminster.

The council’s cabinet approved the Local Plan Pre-Submission Publication documentation for public consultation at its meeting on Tuesday, October 30.

Unlike previous consultations, the council is required to ask specific questions which will give people an opportunity to comment on whether they think the Local Plan is legally compliant and ‘sound’.

Respondents will need to consider how the Local Plan has been prepared, whether its aims are achievable and whether the plan is based on a robust evidence base.

Councillor Ian Hardiman, Wyre Forest District Council’s Cabinet member for Housing, Health and Wellbeing said: “It is important that residents get involved with this consultation because it is their last chance to have a say before we submit the Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate to be examined.

“When we consulted on our Preferred Options in July 2017 we had more than 5,000 comments.

“The feedback highlighted residents endorsed the aims of the Local Plan to use brownfield sites, limit the impact on the countryside, plan for homes to get people on the housing ladder, plan for local jobs and services and make sure the roads and transport systems can cope. Many of the comments were about housing.

“This pre-submission publication does not include previous proposals for a new major housing development adjacent to Spennells in Kidderminster and a number of other sites across the district are not being progressed further.”

But he added that new Government calculations meant at least 5,520 new homes needed to be built in the time frame and said they had no option to build on some Green Belt land.

The Local Plan and details on how to comment are available from www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/localplanreview.

It can be viewed at the libraries in Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley.

Comments must be submitted using the council’s official form and can be completed online or the form can be downloaded and emailed to LPR@wyreforestdc.gov.uk.

Anyone without internet access can view the plan and pick up a comment form from the council’s customer service centre at Kidderminster Town Hall or Wyre Forest House.

People can also visit any of the drop-in sessions where help will be available to submit comments at:

*Friday, November 16, 3pm-7pm, Cookley Village Hall

*Saturday, November 17, 10am - 2pm, Offmore Evangelical Church Hall, Kidderminster

*Tuesday, November 20, 5.30pm – 8pm, Heronswood Primary School, Kidderminster

*Friday, November 23, 3pm – 7pm, Areley Kings Village Hall, Stourport

*Saturday, November 24, 10am -2pm, Stourport Civic Hall

*Tuesday, November 27, 3pm-7pm, St George’s Hall, Bewdley

*Thursday, November 29, 3pm – 7pm, Kidderminster Town Hall

*Friday, November 30, 3pm – 7pm, St Oswald’s Church Centre, Kidderminster

The deadline for responses is 5pm on Monday 17 December 2018.