PEOPLE living in Tenbury and the Teme Valley can now have their say on two vital issues connected with the newly adopted South Worcestershire Development Plan.

Residents and other interested parties are being asked for their views on guidelines for the building of affordable housing between now and 2030 and on the provision of sites for travellers and travelling show people.

The consultations run for six weeks at www.swdevelopmentplan.org while printed copies of the consultation documents and forms will be available at libraries and council contact centres.

There will also be a series of public drop-in sessions when staff will be on hand to answer queries.

The SWDP has recently been adopted by Malvern Hills District Council, Worcester City Council and Wychavon District Council and includes policies aimed at boosting the local economy and delivering sustainable development.

All three councils are preparing an Affordable HousingSupplementary Planning Document, designed to help developers, land owners and others who hope to build affordable housing under policies outlined in the SWDP.

The SWDP proposes that most new housing developments should include a proportion of affordable housing, such as shared ownership or rented accommodation normally managed by housing associations. In larger sites, this will be up to 40% of new housing.

A second consultation is on a separate Development Plan Document setting out proposed locations for new pitches for travellers and travelling show people, to be provided over the next five-ten years, as required by national planning policy.

As part of the process, the three councils carried out an assessment of the need for travellers’ pitches and asked for suggestions for sites where pitches could be accommodated. Seventeen sites were put forward, but not all were considered suitable.