AN MP has stepped in as the row over planning in and around Worcestershire continues.

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has voiced her concerns over the ongoing row over Malvern Hills District Council's five year housing supply.

The council failed to demonstrate it has enough sites ready for housing development to meet its needs.

This is in relation to an application for 120 homes in Rushwick, which was given the green light after the council took too long to decide on its approval.

Mrs Baldwin said she has written to housing secretary Michael Gove asking for clarification on whether the South Worcestershire Development plan can go ahead if not enough sites have been allocated.

Across the three councils who are part of the South Worcestershire Development Plan, Malvern Hills, Wychavon and Worcester City, the five-year land supply is met, but the planning inspector ruled that in the specific Malvern Hills area, there are not enough sites ready to proceed with development.

Mrts Baldwin has asked the Government to clarify this ruling and also asked for Malvern Hills District Council leader Sarah Rouse to come up with an urgent plan to prevent widescale planning applications landing at the council’s door.

She said: "I have been briefed about the planning ruling and have written to the Government to understand what impact this may have on the democratically-developed South Worcestershire Development Plan.

"This is a worrying decision. I have always supported an annual amount of homes built on the right local sites and this ruling could undermine all of this.

"I have always felt that the land supply issue could be easily met by allowing the smaller villages to build very small plots and keep communities growing.

"Malvern Hills has consistently rejected this approach and now the five-year supply issue is looming large.

"I’ve called on Sarah Rouse and her ruling group of councillors to look into this matter urgently and come up with an urgent plan to head off this potential crisis.

"Hopefully a swift response will prevent a deluge of speculative planning applications."

We previously reported how the planning inspector had ruled the council had not shown its housing supply needs, meaning the Rushwick development could go ahead.

In response, Cllr Rouse said she had not yet received anything from the MP.

She added: "Residents have contacted me asking if we are no longer going to build on greenfields.

"The Government housing targets we have been set mean we have no option at the moment.

"We do not have enough old industrial land or previously developed land to meet the Government demands for house building.

"If we are not to allow building on greenfields the Government must drop the demand for 32,000 homes in across the three districts."

She added that all three councils in South Worcestershire work on the housing plan and all contribute to its development.