Have your say on plans for new traveller sites in Worcestershire

More than 100 pitches need to be built in the next 15 years, according to traveller and travelling showpeople documents revealed by the three south Worcestershire councils.

A six-week public consultation on the plans runs until midnight on December 13 with residents invited to comment on the “legal soundness” of the document before it is sent to the government’s planning inspectors to be reviewed.

Proposed locations at the two new towns set out in the updated South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), at Worcestershire Parkway and Throckmorton near Pershore, as well as the three ‘urban extensions’ of Worcester towards Lower Broadheath, Norton and Kempsey and Whittington, will fill the bulk of the gaps in the council’s traveller site plans.

Six pitches, four in Newland in Malvern and two in Charlton near Evesham, have been highlighted by the councils to fill the gap by 2028.

Cllr David Harrison, chair of the South Worcestershire Development Plan joint advisory panel, said: "Providing sufficient appropriately located and designed sites for travellers and travelling showpeople is vitally important, so I would urge people to make their voices heard on this essential issue."

The allocation of traveller sites and predicted demand is included in the newly updated South Worcestershire Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Policy and Site Allocations Development Plan Document – which is similar to the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) which sets out where thousands of new homes are set to be built across the county in the next two decades.

The councils have said that half of the pitches have already been built or are due to be built soon and it is five pitches behind its target with six years left to build them.

A recent council search for potential traveller sites in Worcester found no suitable locations, which means the sites will be built in the Malvern Hills and Wychavon districts.

The councils are also relying on 30 pitches to be made available at ‘windfall’ sites – bits of land that have not been earmarked in any planning documents or policies – in the next 20 years to ensure it has enough designated space for travellers.

You can comment on the plan by visiting