Consultations

Your views are vital to help us provide the best services possible. We carry our consultation on various topics throughout the year. You can find information on consultations we are currently running below. You can also sign up to our email consultation list and we will send you an invite when a consultation is launched.

Sign up for consultation email alerts

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy

Residents are being asked for their views on an ambitious plan to end homelessness and rough sleeping across districts in Worcestershire.

The draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026 to 2031 sets out how Malvern Hills, Redditch and Bromsgrove, Wychavon, and Wyre Forest District Councils will work together over the next five years to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping. Where this cannot be prevented, the councils aim to ensure it is rare, brief and not repeated.

Homelessness affects people and families in many ways, and the causes are often complex, ranging from the lack of affordable housing to issues such as domestic abuse, mental health, family breakdown, financial pressures, and challenges within the private rented sector.

To shape a strategy that responds effectively to these issues, it is essential that we hear from people who have experienced homelessness, service users, partners, and community organisations or anyone with an interest in our approach to preventing and relieving homelessness.

This survey asks for your views on the key priorities, actions, and approaches set out in the draft strategy.

Your feedback will help us understand whether we are focusing on the right areas, identify any gaps, and ensure that the final strategy reflects the needs and experiences of those who are threatened with homelessness or experiencing actual homelessness including rough sleeping.

The consultation will run for six weeks from 13 April and will close at midnight on 24 May 2026.

All responses are anonymous and your views will directly inform the final version of the strategy.

Have your say on the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy

Relevant documents:

•  Draft Shared Homelessness Review 2025
•       Draft Shared Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026-31

Have your say on how Guarlford and Madresfield Parish Councils should be run in the future

Residents, councillors, businesses, and local organisations are being encouraged to have their say on how Guarlford and Madresfield Parish Councils should be run in the future.

Malvern Hills District Council is undertaking a Community Governance Review which will consult local residents and stakeholders on whether the two separate parish councils should be merged to create a new single parish council for the area.

The review has been requested by the two parish councils and will investigate whether they are reflective of the identities and interests of the community.

As part of the review, a consultation will ask the community whether they support a merge of the two councils, whether they should remain separate, or if there is an alternative proposal they would like to suggest.

The first stage of the consultation will run from 23 March 2026 to 4 May 2026.

Have your say on the Guarlford and Madresfield Parish Councils consultation

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any queries.

pdf Madresfield and Guarlford CGR Notice of Review (197 KB)

pdf CGR Timetable (197 KB)

pdf Terms of Reference Madresfield and Guarlford CGR (686 KB)

Sustainable Building and Construction SPD

We’re proposing new planning guidance to ensure future developments across Wychavon are more sustainable and climate-ready.

The draft Sustainable Building and Construction SPD sets out how developers will be expected to:

• Cut carbon and improve energy efficiency 
• Use renewable technologies like solar panels 
• Manage water sustainably 
• Design buildings to protedct residents from weather extremes like heatwaves and flooding

It also encourages the use of durable, responsibly sourced materials and designs that can adapt over time, to help reduce environmental impact and protect wildlife.

Read the Sustainable Building and Construction SPD.(opens in a new window)

Have your say on the Sustainable Building and Construction SPD.(opens in a new window)

Consultation runs until 11.59pm on 30 April 2026.

Take part in consultations on planning guidance

Views are sought on updated planning guidance that will help shape the quality and delivery of new development across South Worcestershire.

The Affordable Housing, Developer Contributions and Air Quality Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDS) are all out for a five-week public consultation.

SPDs provide detailed guidance to explain how existing planning policies should be applied, so developers know what is expected of them when they submit planning applications.

The three SPDs being consulted on have all been updated to reflect the policies in the recently adopted South Worcestershire Development Plan Review.

The Affordable Housing SPD sets out the approach of Malvern Hills District, Worcester City and Wychavon District councils to securing affordable housing, either within a specific scheme, or a contribution so it can be delivered elsewhere.

The Air Quality SPD requires developers to show how they are using design and layout to reduce the impact of poor air quality on human health, while the Developer Contributions SPD sets out how funding or infrastructure will be secured from developers, either on-site or off-site, to make the developments acceptable in planning terms.

Once adopted, all SPDs will be used when assessing planning applications.

The consultations run from 30 March to 11.59pm on 30 April.

Take part via the SWDP website and click on the ‘Consultations for Supplementary Planning Documents 2026’ link on the left-hand menu.