The updated South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) will not be published for consultation in July as scheduled, because work on the key documents relating to development sites and the infrastructure needed to support them is yet to be completed. More time is required to finalise the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) which is a crucial eviden...
Worcester City Council has taken action to tidy up four empty and neglected properties in the city over the past 12 months. The work has included the removal of household waste the and the clearance of very overgrown gardens, in an effort to prevent the houses becoming a blight on their neighbourhoods. Using its planning powers, the Council has the...
Worcester City Council has successfully applied for £1,525,900 of Government funding to improve the energy efficiency of local properties – cutting CO2 emissions and helping to reduce fuel poverty. The funding, which has been received from Government's Green Homes Grant scheme, is being used to improve the energy efficiency of Worcester homes where...
For this year's Landlords' Forum we have gone bigger and better by working with all Worcestershire district councils and the National Residential Landlords Association! We are bringing you a joint Worcestershire forum for all landlords and letting agents across Worcestershire. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the forum will be streame...
Worcester-based armed forces veterans' charity Stepway has presented a Recognition Award to the City Council to acknowledge the support provided since it was founded in 2019. Stepway supports veterans in civilian life by providing drop-in centres, a skills programme, community projects and a range of other initiatives. The charity's founders visite...
Worcester City Council is offering homeowners the opportunity to apply for free external wall insulation, if their combined household income is £30,000 or less. Funding is available following a successful countywide application to government's Green Homes Grant local delivery scheme. This aims to help reduce fuel poverty, phase out high carbon foss...
With Christmas nearly here, Worcester City Council is asking city residents to let them know if they spot anyone sleeping rough on the city's streets. Anyone who does spot a rough sleeper is urged to tell the Streetlink service at www.streetlink.org.uk or by calling 0300 500 0914. Streetlink help by passing through the details to the Council or to ...
Malvern Hills, Worcester and Wychavon District Councils have joined forces to launch a new scheme to allocate social housing across the three districts. 'Housing for You' (www.housingforyou.co.uk) replaces Home Choice Plus, the current allocation system. The move will affect over 9,000 people in South Worcestershire who are currently on the H...
More than £440,000 has been given to councils across Worcestershire to continue supporting rough sleepers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money comes from the Government's Next Steps Accommodation Programme, which is part of the national strategy to end rough sleeping for good. Funding will be used to continue providing B&B and hotel ac...
The completion of the review of the South Worcestershire Development Plan has been delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hoped the document would be ready for public examination in early 2021. But lockdown restrictions have made it impossible to complete a number of technical assessments and evidence gathering need...
Malvern Hills, Worcester and Wychavon District Councils are joining forces to launch a new scheme to allocate social housing across the three districts. The South Worcestershire Partnership will move away from Home Choice Plus, the current allocation system, and is seeking views from local people on its proposed new allocations policy. The policy h...
Housing First, a new approach to helping rough sleepers back into permanent accommodation, is being launched in Worcestershire this month. Worcester City Council, working with each of the five district councils across Worcestershire, led a successful bid for funding from the Government to trial the service for one year. Additional money from the Ci...
A bid by Worcester City Council has secured Government funding of more than £670,000 to help rough sleepers come off the streets. The grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guarantees the continuation and development of services that support rough sleepers across Worcestershire and help them to get back into accommodat...
Worcester City Council is seeking feedback from local people on an existing scheme introduced to help raise standards in the city's Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). An HMO is a house that has been split into separate living areas so that several different households can live in it. The council is particularly keen to hear the views from tenant...
Worcester City Council and its partner agencies that support rough sleepers have worked together to successfully implement all the recommendations made in an independent review into the death of a rough sleeper in the city. The independent review into the death of 74-year-old rough sleeper Cardon Banfield, who died in 2016, was published in May las...
Ensuring businesses and residents benefit from new housing developments is a key priority for Worcester City Council. The authority is now applying economic benefit conditions to major planning applications - such as job creation and provision of apprenticeship opportunities. As a result, the City Council has reached a unique agreement with Bloor H...
A proposal to consult on plans to build three major new settlements across South Worcestershire, to meet future demand for new housing, is set to go before councillors. The Preferred Options document, produced as part of the review of the South Worcestershire Development Plan, sets out how a Government requirement to build another 14,000 new homes ...
A Worcester resident has been praised by the Mayor for his innovative conversion of the Old Infirmary building on Silver Street in to six luxury studio apartments. The building, which dates to circa 1676, was bought in 1745 and opened as Worcester Infirmary on 11 January 1746, becoming only the seventh charitable hospital outside of London. It was ...
A new homelessness centre is set to open in Worcester's city centre, following a successful bid for Government funding. The £242,601 grant will support the opening in September of a "Somewhere Safe to Stay" hub at the Salvation Army's base in The Trinity. The scheme will be a major boost to support for people across the county who are already sleep...
Proposals for the demolition of the old swimming pool in Sansome Walk are set to be considered by Worcester city councillors. Work at the site was delayed after surveys showed a greater level of asbestos was present than had previously been revealed. Council officers have worked with specialists to reappraise the process for demolishing the buildin...
