Council Strategy

Our vision is to enhance the Malvern Hills District as a destination to explore and an outstanding place to live and work.

To achieve this we have produced our Five Year Plan. This sets out a number of actions to be completed by 2025 under our three priority areas - Our Health and Wellbeing, Our Economy and Our Environment.

The plan is updated every year. Our priorities and actions for 2024/25 are listed below:

Our Health and Wellbeing

Continue to invest to support and enable our communities to become healthier, safer and stronger

1. Work with health and strategic partners to transform our leisure and community facilities into community hubs for wellbeing by:
     - Upskilling the leisure workforce.
     - Introducing an exercise referral scheme.
     - Connecting residents to other community health and wellbeing services and support.

2. Support more villages to achieve SmartWater status to discourage organised and opportunistic crime.

3. Continue to facilitate investment of at least £20millionin new open space provision, play areas, playing pitches and communities facilities across the district in the plan period.

Tackle the root causes of poverty and help residents to prevent, survive and recover from financial hardship

4. Establish the first district council led Poverty Truth Commission with residents who have experience of poverty by 2025, directly involving them in decision making through telling their own stories.

5. Increase investment in welfare support in 2024/25,to directly support those most in need of help with household basics.

Prevent homelessness and rough sleeping or ensure it is rare, brief and non-recurring

6. Work with housing partners to maximise delivery of affordable housing, to meet local needs.

7. Reduce our use of B&B accommodation by increasing the provision of suitable temporary accommodation in the district, by March 2027.

Give young people the opportunity to have a say in public services

8. Visit all secondary schools and at least 50% of primary schools and hold a Democracy event by March 2026,to listen to and consider the things that matter to them.

9. Deliver an enhanced Youth Forum and ensure young people’s priorities are incorporated in Council services, including our youth activities programmes.

Create a vibrant arts community that delivers social, economic and health benefits for our residents

10. Deliver our £20million improvements to Malvern Theatres by December 2026, to create life enriching opportunities for our residents from all backgrounds.

11. Continue to support and develop community led arts across the district through an independent arts network and small grants programme.

Our Economy

Enable economic growth through increased provision of suitable commercial premises

12. Work with all partners on the Malvern Hills Science Park Board to deliver Phase 6 of the Science Park as a low carbon development as early as possible and by 2027 at the latest.

13. Work with partners to deliver investment in new workspace and key employment sites, increasing overall stock by at least 10% on the 2023 baseline by 2028.

Support vibrant town centres and an attractive tourism offer

14. Return footfall in our towns to at least pre-Covid levels by 2026 and grow it by a further 10% by 2030.

15. Develop a masterplan for the sympathetic redevelopment of the area bound by Church Street and Edith Walk in Great Malvern.

16. Enable the tourism sector to build a workforce of over4,000 by 2030.

Ensure Malvern Hills District is recognised as a leading location for highly productive, high growth businesses

17. Achieve 65% of the workforce in higher skills employment by 2030.

18. Workplace pay at or above Worcestershire average by2030.

19. Support businesses to create 100 new apprenticeships by 2026.

20. Support at least 100 businesses per year to innovate and grow through business support programmes.

21. Secure £3million private sector investment in low carbon technology across the district by 2030.

22. Building on the strengths of our rural businesses and communities, deliver a £500,000 Rural England Prosperity Fund capital grants programme by March 2025.

Our Environment

Lead Malvern Hills District Council and the wider district to become carbon neutral

23. Reduce the Council’s own greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2030.

24. Lead the district by example, to become carbon neutral as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest.

25. Progress options to decarbonise Malvern Splash and Malvern Theatres, including improving energy efficiency and the implementation of renewable energy and low carbon heating technologies.

26. Achieve 100% Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) usage in suitable vehicles at our depot by 2025.

Encourage low carbon development, design measures and infrastructure to improve resilience and adaptation to climate change

27. Prepare and adopt a Sustainable Buildings Supplementary Planning Document by the end of2025.

28. Promote and support sustainable travel solutions, including low carbon, community transport and active travel.

29. Support major flood alleviation schemes including Tenbury Wells and Severn Stoke through Council funding.

30. Launch an awards scheme to promote excellence in sustainable activity including buildings, biodiversity and community initiatives during 2024.

Reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste sent to the Energy from Waste Plant from the district’s households

31. Reduce non-recyclable waste collected at the kerbside by at least 10% over the 2023 baseline by2029 programmes and enforcement campaigns.