WARNDON Parish Council is pushing ahead with a proposal to have a neighbourhood plan - which would be the first ever introduced in the city if it gets the backing of residents.

Parish councillor Andy Taylor told an annual parish meeting the plan was needed as part of work to stop further development of the M5 protection corridor - a section of green space, dividing the housing of Warndon Villages from the motorway.

This was of particular importance, he explained, due to recent “anomaly” applications including Warndon Six business park, and the Worcester City Football Club Parsonage Way application.

Mr Taylor, the parish councillor responsible for planning and rights of way and who is one of those leading work on the plan as part of a steering committee, gave a presentation on the neighbourhood plan to residents at the meeting, held on Monday at Lyppard Hub.

Mr Taylor explained the plan addresses the development and the use of land for a parish, carrying weight in the planning process, and so would help them to ensure the “right development in the right location,” in Warndon Villages, in the future.

But he added “you couldn’t stop all development, as that is not do-able.”

For any plan to be adopted it will need public support in a referendum achieving 50 per cent in favour of all those who vote.

Asked about the timescale for a referendum and plan for it to be adopted - particularly as there are parish council elections next year - Mr Taylor said: “We have had false starts.

“I hope in a year’s time we will have a plan, that will need refinement. That is the ambition.”

After the meeting Warndon Parish Council’s chairman Nick Fielden said the plan was important, particularly in regard to the recent applications.

“There has been a feeling of uncertainty, but we want to work with the city council,” he said.

“The most important thing is to get it (the plan) right.

“To have legitimacy it needs public support.”