DAVID Cameron has warned councils to either adopt local housing plans or face direct Government intervention.

The Prime Minister has announced a hard-hitting "housing crusade" by setting local authorities a firm 2017 "do or fail" deadline in agreeing their housing blueprints.

But Cllr Melanie Baker, planning portfolio holder at Malvern Hills, is confident the South Worcestershire Development Plan will be ready long before the deadline.

She said: "We're currently on track to have the plan signed off for February next year.

"It's been a complicated process but that's the price of democracy: you have to let everyone have their say and it's important that it's done in the proper democratic manner.

"Nothing this large is easy, but we've been through the whole process and we're confident that we're going to move forward on schedule.

"When I saw Mr Cameron's announcement, I thought 'Thank goodness we're almost all the way there. We can see the end in sight."

Councils which cannot get working documents in order, earmarking specific parcels of land for new homes and employment, will have ministers come in and do it for them.

The tough stance comes just days after the SWDP, which allocates land for 28,370 homes by 2030, was sent out for a new six-week consultation.

The only major change in the latest version of the plan is that a former playing field off Green Lane in Malvern Wells, originally

earmarked for 35 homes, has been dropped.

The major development at Newland and that of the QinetiQ site for homes and employment are confirmed, as are many other smaller

sites around Malvern.

Once that closes an independent inspector will have to make a fresh judgement on its contents and then district councils in Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon are expected to take another vote on adopting it - bringing the end in sight after three years of work.

The old version of the SWDP earmarked land for 23,200 homes before inspector Roger Clews ordered it to rise significantly, eventually taking the figure to 28,370.

Mr Cameron wants one million new homes built across the country by 2020, saying "we need a national crusade to get homes built and everyone must play their part".

Across the country just 65 per cent of areas have adopted local plans and one in five haven't even got a draft version ready.