CAMPAIGNERS say they are ‘flabbergasted’ that Bromsgrove District Council planning officers have recommended the design of a spine road for the Perryfields application for approval.
Residents say Taylor Wimpey’s original proposals for the road – agreed with the Planning Inspectorate – would have been more or less a direct route from the Kidderminster Road to the Stourbridge Road, effectively running parallel to the M5.
But they said when the design in the reserved matters application – due to go before the planning committee next week – was revealed, the road had been altered ‘with more bends being put in so more housing could be accommodated along the route’.
They feel this would make it less effective and less appealing to drivers and would lead to motorists using other areas as a rat run to avoid the heavy residential areas.
The Phase 1 application, relating to 149 properties on land between Stourbridge Road and Perryfields Road, will be heard by members at the Council House at Parkside at 6pm on Monday, April 3. The item will determine appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.
In the report, Worcestershire Highways claims the section of the spine road ‘had been designed in accordance with principles set by the Planning Inspectorate’.
It added the road would be 6.1metres wide and wider at the bends to ‘safely accommodate two-way traffic based on tracking data’.
But it then adds the road would be 20mph which, for the campaigners, is ‘completely unacceptable for it to successfully accomplish its aims’.
One campaigner Graham Dallas told the Standard: “The original spine road would have been perfect but this redesigned one is not fit for purpose.
“It needs to be wider and with a speed limit higher than 20mph so it can take traffic through and avoid congestion.
“There are already a number of other roads in that area used as rat runs and the spine road should be providing a more attractive alternative but, with this design, it won’t – if anything, it will put motorists off and lead to even more traffic on the already congested routes.”
Visit bromsgrove.gov.uk/planning and search for application number ‘21/01626/REM’ to see the application.
Monday’s meeting is open to the public and anyone who wants to can attend.
