Join our Harvington Neighbourhood Development (Housing) Plan event: Village Hall – Wednesday 25.3.26 @ 7.45pm / Sunday 29.3.26 @ 2pm

/in /by

INVITATION TO A SPECIAL EVENT: An opportunity to come and have your say and discuss with the Parish Council – Harvington Village Hall on:

Wednesday 25 March 2026 at 7.45pm, and Sunday 29 March 2026 at 2pm.

 

Residents of Harvington – we need your support!

Our newsletter aims to provide you, the residents of Harvington, with details of the current housing situation in our village and how, with your support, the Parish Council plans to move forward. Action is needed to ensure future unwanted, unsuitable or speculative development is reasonably controlled.

Current situation:

Harvington has recently seen two housing developments approved, resulting in 64 houses to be built across two sites, both of which are outside our current Neighbourhood Plan boundary. For more background on these planning decisions see this short clip by Cllr Craig Reeves – https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Ff7cb83MJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr.

Furthermore, despite the Parish Council recently winning a judicial review, initially overturning one of these housing developments, the application was simply resubmitted and approved once again by Wychavon planning.

Designating housing land sites within local development plans can help protect against such developments. Where no housing land is identified, planning decisions are heavily weighted towards approval of housing developments (due to a principle in planning legislation known as ‘tilted balance’ – explained overleaf). This is currently the case for Harvington (and much of Wychavon):

  • Wychavon District Council (WDC) is currently unable to demonstrate a 5-year housing land supply – as required by the government. This position will not change until publication of the new South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP). Even when published and adopted (estimated April 2026), the new SDWP will need to be revised further to accommodate new government housing plans.
  • Harvington Neighbourhood Plan (adopted in 2019, revised and updated in 2025) no longer has any designated housing land sites since the original allocations have been built out.

If we take no action, we risk developers taking advantage of the situation and submitting planning applications for further, potentially large scale developments around the village. Additionally, the Government plan to build 1.5 million homes in England by 2030 seems likely to increase the rate of planning applications still further.

What do we need to do?

Review and update the Harvington Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) – The review will ensure that the HNP remains up-to-date, accounts for current legislation and ensures that our voice carries weight in planning decisions. It will also influence the mix of housing available in Harvington and help protect our local environment.

The new HNP will need to include at least one designated housing development site if it is to provide any protection or influence around planning decisions and housing developments.

Conduct a housing needs survey – Information on future housing needs for residents in the village is a major requirement in any neighbourhood plan. Whilst development of a new HNP will take some time, collecting up-to-date housing needs data can be achieved relatively quickly. This data could potentially be used as evidence to contest significant housing developments.

How will we achieve this?

A major review of our neighbourhood plan will involve significant work over an extended period by the Parish Council. We plan to use dedicated funding from Wychavon District Council to employ a planning consultant to guide us and to write our plan’s policies.

The Parish Council are currently making arrangements to have a housing needs survey conducted on our behalf – fully funded. The survey will be arriving soon and your input will help to influence and form the HNP, so please take some time to respond.

How can you get involved and have your say?

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: Developing a neighbourhood plan is a significant undertaking involving a wide range of skills including:

  • Planning knowledge or neighbourhood development experience.
  • Knowledge and experience in environmental aspects of planning, sustainable transport, agricultural sustainability and local services and facilities.

If you can help, please contact the Harvington Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) working group using the QR code or email:

INVITATION TO A SPECIAL EVENT: An opportunity to come and have your say and discuss with the Parish Council – Harvington Village Hall on:

Wednesday 25 March 2026 at 7.45pm, and Sunday 29 March 2026 at 2pm.

 

Planning legislation background:

The Government requires a 5-year housing land supply to be shown, but Wychavon District Council can only show a 1-year land supply. For those interested in the legislation governing planning decisions, here are some key extracts from the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF – December 2024):

‘Plans and decisions should be considered in the context of the presumption in favour of sustainable development. Relevant policies for the supply of housing should not be considered up to date if the local planning authority cannot demonstrate a 5-year supply of deliverable housing sites.’

‘If there is no 5-year land supply, then Paragraph 14 of the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) is engaged. Paragraph 14 provides for what is commonly called, the ‘tilted balance’ which is in favour of granting planning permission. Namely, the presumption that planning permission should be granted unless adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against NPPF’s policies.’

This means that WDC planning decisions are currently weighted as follows:

‘approving development proposals that accord with the development plan without delay’

‘granting permission where the development plan is absent, silent or relevant policies are out-of-date, unless there are significant and demonstrable adverse impacts or where specific policies indicate development should be restricted.’

 

We will continue to communicate the next steps of our plan and how you can get involved.

 

Produced on behalf of Harvington Parish Council, supported by Wychavon District Council.

March 2026