The siting of up to 10 new sites for travellers could be put to Worcestershire residents for their views in Spring.

Officers at Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills councils have put forward eight sites to increase the provision for Travellers, in the South Worcestershire Development Plan.

A further two sites on the edge of Worcester will be proposed to be made available in about five years as the next stage of the development plan.

The eight sites which councillors in all three council will be considering are dotted around the south of the county: three are clustered near Evesham, one is in the north of the area, just south of Stourport at Crossway Green and four are south of Worcester at Bastonford, Kempsey, Guarlford and Upton-upon-Severn.

If all the eight current proposed sites are approved, then another 35 caravan pitches will be available throughout the area.

The report to be put to memb4ers of Worcester City Council’s Place and Economic Development sub-committee next week said: “Unauthorised Traveller encampments often result in costs for the local authority both to secure possession of the land if it is owned by the city council and for waste removal.

“These costs can be minimised or avoided altogether if there is an adequate supply of managed stopping places for Travellers.”

It added that there was an identified need for “34 permanent Traveller pitches across South Worcestershire to 2018-2019. The identified need was primarily in Wychavon where there was a requirement for 33 pitches.

“There was a requirement for six pitches in Malvern Hills and a potential over-supply of five pitches in Worcester up to 2019.”

A further 20 pitches should become available in five or six years time closer to Worcester. A site providing 10 pitches is suggested for the western extension of the city at Temple Laugherne and another one at the southern urban extension at Broomhall and Norton Barracks.Details of exactly where those sites might be have not yet been decided.

If the updated plan is approved by the city council’s committee, and by the relevant committees in Wychavon and Malvern Hills district councils then it will go to public consultation from February 28 until April 18.

Worcester City Council will issue advice on how to make your views known if the plans do go to public consultation.