Plan that could see 530 new homes built in village near Stourbridge branded 'really bad news'

Hagley has been earmarked to accommodate 530 new houses across two sites - one north of Western Road where 180 new properties would be built and land south of Western Road where 350 new homes are proposed.

The proposal features in the draft Local Plan for Bromsgrove district, which is set to determine where new homes are to be built, and this is due to go out for public consultation from June 30 to September 22.

Hagley West independent councillor Steve Colella has expressed anger at the plan, hitting out at council leaders. Meanwhile, councillor Karen May, Conservative leader of the council, has also outlined concerns about the number of houses required in the district which she said has been imposed by the Labour government.

Councillor Colella said: “It’s really bad news for Hagley!

“The consultation is based on the officers’ plan, which contains their preferred housing sites, housing targets and endorsed by the Conservative-led administration.”

He said he would be voting against a recommendation to approve the plans going out to consultation - adding: “I cannot accept the housing allocation target and sites that have been selected by the Conservative-led administration. For the last 18 months I, along with my colleagues in the Independent Group have been battling against the proposed one option which forms the bedrock of the consultation process.

“I strongly believe that to make the consultation process open, transparent, and not feel like a ‘done deal’ residents should have a range of options which they can engage on. 

“Earlier this year I resigned from my cabinet role as portfolio holder for finance when it became clear that the Conservative led-administration was favouring a one option approach to the consultation.

“By voting in favour of the recommendation, means approving the location of the development sites and agreeing to the fact that they are suitable for the housing proposed within the plan, which I do not believe they are."

He said an extra 530 new homes in Hagley would have a “massive impact” on the village and its services such as GP surgeries and schools as well as the increase in traffic congestion additional houses would generate.

He added: “The only certainty is this will not make our lives better, quite the contrary, I fear.”

He urged people to attend an extraordinary meeting of the council at Bromsgrove District Council’s Parkside offices in Market Street on Thursday June 19, from 6pm, to see councillors debate the issue and vote on going out to consultation.

A report to the council states: “By endorsing the consultation members are not approving any one particular site for development at this stage and members are still entitled to form individual views on the merits of the possible sites identified for development.

“The purpose of this report is to seek approval for a 12-week district wide consultation on the Bromsgrove District Local Plan Draft Development Strategy (DDS) 2025. 

“In February 2025 the council approved a new Local Development Scheme which identified that consultation on a draft Local Plan would begin in May or June 2025. 

“If approved, the consultation on the Draft Development Strategy will mean the council will have met its stated aim, and satisfy the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that Bromsgrove District Council is committed to plan-making and progressing a Local Plan in line with its published timetable. 

“The council could be at risk of Government intervention should a new local plan not progress according to the timetable. 

“The Draft Development Strategy builds on previous consultation carried out in 2018 and 2019.

“The 2019 consultation also included a Call for Sites exercise, which provided the council with over 400 different sites to be assessed for inclusion in future versions of the Plan. 

“These sites have now been assessed and the Draft Development Strategy includes an initial suite of possible sites for potential allocation to inform a future draft Local Plan.

“At this stage it needs to be stated that the Draft Development Strategy  is not a full draft local plan. There are many more elements which constitute a local plan which remain to be produced

“Also, as part of the consultation, the location of all the alternative sites submitted to the council under the Call for Sites exercise will be open for consultation. If consultees have a preference for other sites to be included or simply wish to comment on the sites that haven’t been chosen up to this point, then the ability to do that will be part of the consultation. It is clear when considering the site assessments carried out that many more sites have not been selected than those which have.”

Councillor May stressed the plan "isn't set in stone" and told the Express & Star: "It's just the start. We want to know what the residents think."

She told the Express & Star: "At the end of the day these are government numbers - it's what the government has set. We have to have 12,121 homes by 2043.

"We have 1.89 years of land left. Unless we have a plan with land supply we're in trouble. It's not my wish to build houses all over the district. We've been given these targets and if we don't achieve them the government will step in and we could have far in excess of 12,000.

"I'm extremely concerned about these housing numbers, it's an 85 per cent increase in the target we had before July 2024."