Harriett Baldwin today called on Malvern Hills District Councillors to reject the recommendations from a consultant's report which suggests that 30,000 homes could be built in South Worcestershire, up from 24,500 in the South Worcestershire Joint Core Stratergy

At a meeting at Hanley Castle High School tonight, Councillors will be discussing the Nathaniel Lichfield consultancy's report and the Regional Spatial Strategy Phase Two Revision.

Harriett Baldwin said, "I object strongly to the way in which this government has imposed targets for housing on South Worcestershire from the top down. Originally, Malvern Hills District Council was asked to build 4,900 homes, which was not unreasonable. Then the overspill from Worcester City took this up to a completely unreasonable number - perhaps as much as 9,000. Now a report written by a consultant paid for by the Government Office of the West Midlands at the request of Baroness Andrews wants to increase the total for South Worcestershire by over 20%. I urge Councillors to say no.

I shall be writing in to object to the Nathaniel Lichfield report as well.

I shall also be raising a range of points in the Regional Spatial Strategy Phase Two Revision Consultation which ends on December 8th.

Perhaps local Councils might also consider delaying the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy consultation while we await the conclusions of the consultation on these extra numbers. If we can delay for long enough, we may be able to hold a General Election and vote to abolish this government's top down, Stalinist approach to housing.