In a joint statement with Peter Luff MP for Mid Worcestershire, both warn that only a change of Government can reduce the number of houses that Wychavon, Malvern Hills and Worcester City are being forced to provide for in the so-called South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy.
They say,
"The new housing developments being planned under the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy (SWJCS) are the result of figures imposed on South Worcestershire's local authorities by the Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands - a strategy effectively dictated by Central Government.
"The three local authorities in the SWJCS - Wychavon, Malvern Hills and Worcester City - can do nothing but play pass the parcel within South Worcestershire with these figures; they cannot refuse to accommodate the housing numbers specified in the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).
The statement explains.
"The only way to prevent house-building on the envisaged scale is to abolish the Regional Spatial Strategy. This Government will not do that - indeed they are trying to impose even higher numbers on South Worcestershire.
"A new Conservative Government however, would make abandoning the RSS a top priority. Indeed, the Conservatives have already drafted legislation to scrap these plans - legislation that will be enacted swiftly as soon as they take office.
"We conclude that the only way of preventing an excessive number of new homes being imposed by the Government on South Worcestershire is by voting Conservative at the next General Election - and by having that election at the earliest possible date."
Peter commented,
"If I oppose any one current proposal, then somewhere else in my constituency will get more houses instead. I am not prepared to go along with this corrupt system, imposed on us by the Government.
"I do not like being overtly party political at local level, but on this occasion I simply have to be. I share the views of the many local communities in my constituency that say they are being asked to take too many houses - and I share the fears that the infrastructure just won't be there to meet the massive new demands that will be placed on it.
"But the Government is hell-bent on forcing these houses on us. A local, bottom-up approach will still mean we have to build houses, but in more appropriate locations, on a smaller scale, with better planning for the infrastructure to support them.
"Only a Conservative government will change the system. It's that simple."
Harriett Baldwin commented,
"Peter Luff MP and I met with Cllr Phil Grove and Cllr Joe Smith, the designated new leader and deputy leader of Malvern Hills this weekend to discuss the SWJCS. We all recognise that some new housing needs to be built in South Worcestershire over the next 15 years.
What Peter and I oppose is the scale of the building being dictated to local councils by the Region. 24,500 homes means another City almost the size of Worcester. Although Malvern Hills was told that the allocation was 4,900, the District now seems to be getting more than 10,000 homes because Worcester City has insufficient space.
Small windfall schemes in villages - which have been occurring naturally in the last century - are disregarded. Green field sites are demanded. The infrastructure is not in place and the money to invest in new infrastructure will not be sufficient, as a County Council study has shown. This is an undemocratic process best suited to the Soviet Union under Stalin."
Photo: From L to R - Cllr Phil Grove, Leader Designate of Malvern Hills District Council, Peter Luff MP, Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate and Cllr Joe Smith, Deputy Leader Designate of Malvern Hills District Council.