A DEVELOPER wants to build 250 homes as part of plans for a new town near Worcester.
Bellway has asked Wychavon District Council to decide that plans for up to 250 homes near Worcestershire Parkway Station do not need a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The request, submitted by Pegasus Group on behalf of Bellway Strategic Land, relates to an outline application for a residential scheme on a 9.4-hectare site.
PLANS: The development would form part of the larger Wychavon Town scheme (Image: Bellway)
The development would include access, landscaping, drainage, and other infrastructure, with all detailed matters reserved for later approval.
The land lies directly south of Worcestershire Parkway Station and close to the villages of Norton, Littleworth, and Stoulton.
The screening report says the site includes agricultural land, a smaller area of grassland and scrub, and another section of scrub, grassland, and trees where the remains of a former Second World War fire engine house are located.
Bellway argues the proposal should not be treated as EIA development because of its size and because it sits within a much larger strategic allocation for the proposed Wychavon Town.
The company says the site can come forward independently and would not undermine the delivery of the wider plan.
The report also says the development would help meet local housing needs earlier than the larger scheme might otherwise do.
The site forms part of the wider South Worcestershire Development Plan allocation, which sets out a major new settlement around Worcestershire Parkway over the plan period.
That wider plan includes provision for around 5,000 homes, employment land, and a new town centre.
Several larger outline planning and scoping applications have already been lodged for the area.
These include proposals for thousands of homes, employment land, schools, transport infrastructure, and green space as part of the wider growth planned around the station.
Wychavon District Council must now decide whether the proposal is likely to have significant environmental effects and therefore requires a full EIA.
Under the regulations, the authority is expected to issue its screening opinion within three weeks, although a longer period is allowed in some cases.
The outcome will be important for how quickly the housing scheme can progress.
A decision that no EIA is needed would clear one of the early procedural hurdles before an outline planning application is submitted.
