19/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HF6YdnSJv/?mibextid=wwXIfr
A38 BREP ISN’T THE ONLY TRANSPORT CHALLENGE FACING BROMSGROVE 🚗🏗️
I have read Bradley Thomas MP’s letter on the A38 BREP scheme today and watched his interviews with some interest.
There are clearly questions that need answering about BREP, and residents deserve those answers. I have already submitted a question for September’s Full Council calling for an independent review.
But I think we also need to look beyond the roadworks in front of us, because Bromsgrove potentially has an even bigger transport problem coming down the road.
🏘️ Our planning position has changed dramatically.
The independent Planning Advisory Service Review, paragraph 7.6, page 19, says:
➡️ “The Bromsgrove District Plan is now significantly out of date.”
It confirms that, as of 1 April 2025, Bromsgrove could demonstrate only 2.24 years of deliverable housing land supply.
⚠️ More importantly, paragraph 7.6 warns that the “tilted balance” applies, “significantly increasing the risk of speculative development proposals being received and approved on appeal.”
🔗 Read the PAS Review, paragraph 7.6, page 19:
https://moderngovwebpublic.bromsgrove.gov.uk/documents/s65616/Bromsgrove%20Planning%20Service%20Review_January%202026_Issue.pdf
📑 And that isn't the only warning.
Paragraph 7.4, page 85 of Bromsgrove District Council’s Cabinet papers for 25 March 2026 states:
➡️ “Lack of five-year housing land supply is an issue, with only 2.24 years’ supply, the council is exposed to the tilted balance, increasing the likelihood of additional development pressure.”
🔗 Read BDC’s Cabinet report, paragraph 7.4, page 85:
https://moderngovwebpublic.bromsgrove.gov.uk/documents/g4577/Public%20reports%20pack%2025th-Mar-2026%2018.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10
📉 The independent PAS review goes further.
Its Executive Summary, paragraph 1.3, page 3, states that Bromsgrove’s Local Plan policies are open to challenge for being out of date and housing land supply is just 2.24 years. It concludes:
➡️ “This increases the risk of speculative development and planning decisions by appeal.”
🔗 Read the PAS Review, paragraph 1.3, page 3:
https://moderngovwebpublic.bromsgrove.gov.uk/documents/s66298/APPENDIX%201%20-%20Final.pdf
🏗️ Bromsgrove District Council itself now publicly explains why residential planning applications are happening.
Under the section headed “Why residential planning applications are happening”, the Council states:
➡️ “the council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.”
It then explains that without an up-to-date adopted Local Plan, national planning policy increases the weight that can be given to new residential development.
And then comes the really important part:
➡️ “This creates a situation where developers seek to promote sites earlier than intended through the plan-making process.”
🔗 Read BDC’s own explanation under “Why residential planning applications are happening”:
https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/council/policy/strategic-planning/emerging-bromsgrove-district-local-plan/emerging-bromsgrove-district-local-plan-latest-news/
❓ SO WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN FOR BROMSGROVE?
We now have:
📍 A Local Plan described by the independent review as significantly out of date
🏘️ Just 2.24 years of housing land supply
⚖️ The tilted balance in operation
🏗️ An acknowledged increased risk of speculative development
🚧 Major development proposals coming forward, including around the A38 corridor
🚗 A transport strategy conceived in a very different planning environment
That last point really concerns me.
Whatever happens with BREP, we need to ask whether Bromsgrove’s wider transport planning is prepared for potentially hundreds, if not thousands, of additional homes coming forward.
🚦 This is exactly why I have already written to the County Council calling for an urgent wider transport review of Bromsgrove.
🔗 Read my earlier intervention and the letter I sent calling for that review:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BHpuyK4be/
BREP was designed for one set of circumstances. Bromsgrove is now facing another.
I don't want us looking back in five years asking why major developments were considered without first understanding their cumulative impact on the A38, its junctions, our local roads, schools and communities.
🏡🚗 This isn't about stopping development altogether. It's about making sure development and infrastructure are planned together, rather than Bromsgrove constantly playing catch-up.
⚠️ We need to get ahead of this now, not wait until the damage is done.
