RESIDENTS of Leigh and Branford are being urged to take back the initiative over housebuilding in the parish by creating a Neighbourhood Plan.

The call comes as Malvern Hills planners approved a reserved matters application for 51 homes at Kiln Lane in Leigh Sinton, but rejected a plan for 32 more homes at Elmshurst Farm off Hereford Road.

The neighbourhood plan

Hilary Thompson, of the parish council, said: "A Neighbourhood Plan is a way of taking back the initiative and using what the people in the community want to see created. We can't necessarily change what is happening at the moment but we can influence what is happening in the present and will happen in the future."

"There has been tremendous pressure from developers and central government to build houses in our parish and across the country as a whole, a lot of it unstoppable.

"The parish needs its own vision for the future, not one imposed on it by developers who use the offer of community facilities and infrastructure to persuade people to accept the housing projects that they, the developers, want to build.

Sarah Rouse, who represents the area on Malvern Hills District Council, said having a Neighbourhood Plan would also allow the parish access to Section 106 money, contributed by developers, which can be spent on community facilities.

She said: "We are looking to focus on three areas: community infrastructure and recreation, house design and environmental issues . We believe that we can then develop a vision for what the residents of the parish want.

"We need to find projects that the community would like to bring forward and where they would like them to be situated in the parish. It might be sports facilities, a community centre or wildlife areas. We want to know what facilities the residents would like over the next 15 years."

Cllr Rouse wants to hear from anyone who is interested in the Neighbourhood Plan. She can be contacted on Sarahrouse72@gmail.com or 01886 833653.