18/05/2026
The local development draft summaries are now available at https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/council/policy/planning-policies-and-other-information/bromsgrove-district-local-plan-latest-news/
The statutory consultees have backed up what the residents have said all along.
Transport provision is unsustainable. Flood risk is unknown on most sites. Schools can't expand in several locations. The NHS says services will collapse without funding that the developer contribution system can't actually provide. Ecological surveys haven't been done. And the evidence base the whole plan rests on has been described as out of date by multiple consultees.
Specifically:
NHS: In every single settlement, schools are at or over capacity, GP surgeries are full or physically unable to expand, and roads are congested. The Perryfields development in Bromsgrove is cited again and again as the cautionary tale of S106 money that never delivered promised infrastructure. The Bromsgrove Primary Care Network's PPG explicitly states that Section 106 contributions cannot fund GP staffing costs — meaning even if a new building is funded, the practice can't be staffed. Hagley's PPG goes further and says their surgery may close its list to new patients.
Schools: Bromsgrove town alone needs 4 new first schools, 5 new middle school forms of entry, and 6 new high school forms of entry. Several existing schools are under PFI contracts that make expansion legally complicated. In Wythall, secondary school expansion has been assessed and rated "not likely to be feasible — space." In Frankley, a solution for secondary education requires Birmingham City Council to be involved. Stoke Prior First School had 64 applications for 30 Reception places last year.
National Trust: Part of the Frankley allocation boundary incorrectly includes inalienable National Trust land — Frankley Beeches — which cannot be sold or compulsorily purchased without an Act of Parliament. The NT has formally asked for it to be removed from the allocation.
Environment Agency: Nearly every single proposed housing site in the district has an unmodelled watercourse — meaning the true flood risk is currently unknown. This includes sites in Alvechurch, Barnt Green, Catshill, Frankley, Hagley, Stoke Prior, and all three Wythall sites. Severn Trent Water has also asked for a corner of the Frankley site to be removed to build a new reservoir, which is the only viable location for essential water infrastructure serving the wider region.
Transport: The BREP are considered insufficient even by the county council's own transport planners, who are calling for further upgrades and segregated cycling and walking routes. Catshill's CA03 site is on a Category 1 mineral safeguarding zone — WCC has said it will formally object unless a Minerals Resource Assessment is done first, which is a legal blocker on that allocation.
Neighbouring Councils: Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley, Warwickshire, and Stratford-on-Avon councils have all flagged cross-boundary concerns. Development at Frankley, Hagley, and Wythall will affect their roads, schools, and GP surgeries — and no joint transport assessment or cross-boundary infrastructure plan exists
See information about the Summer 2025 public consultation on the Draft Development Strategy.
