RESIDENTS of Wythall came together to say ‘no’ to the prospective housing developments set to go before the planning board.
Around 50 residents turned out to the meeting, held by County Councillor Adam Kent, and Bromsgrove MP Bradley Thomas.
They were joined by shadow housing minister Sir James Cleverly, who, before the meeting, visited two of the sites earmarked for housing.
Mr Thomas and Coun Kent have been fighting against the increase in development in the village since the increased housing targets from central government.
Bromsgrove District Council consulted from June to October 2025 on a draft Development Strategy to control long-term growth in the area.
Wythall was earmarked to take 1,295 houses across three sites – land south of Houndsfield Lane, a parcel east of Lea Green Lane and land south of Station Road.
The influx of housing has caused outrage among villagers with many claiming local infrastructure cannot cope.
During the meeting, at Hollywood Golf Club, residents could raise their concerns with Coun Kent, Mr Thomas and Mr Cleverly, who encouraged residents to make their opposition known by commenting on the planning applications submitted to Bromsgrove District Council.
Mr Cleverly said it was clear the site on Houndsfield Lane was green belt, and that the reclassification of land into grey belt, was causing the increased development.
He also said there was a flood risk to the site, with the brook running through.
“The proposed development is perverse, it is directly contradictory to the governments plans.
“They say they want less people driving, well this puts more cars on the road, it says it wants to protect the environment, but it is going to be bulldozing over it.
“The housing targets are completely counterproductive and it does feel spiteful.”
Residents said Wythall was also being impacted by cross-border development too, with more houses being built in Solihull.
Afterwards, Mr Thomas said: “The message from the public meeting was loud and clear – Wythall says no to overdevelopment.
“The village is facing a barrage of speculative housing applications because developers have been emboldened by the government’s housing policy.
“My constituents and I aren’t NIMBYs. We all except the need for new houses, but not on the scale the government is imposing on us.
“The government should build on brownfield land first and provide communities with the infrastructure that will be needed before any houses are built.”
Coun Kent added: “It’s quite clear from the meeting the residents of Wythall see the current avalanche of planning applications as deeply concerning both in terms of scale and inappropriate locations with a distinct lack of infrastructure.
“With over a dozen potential sites already in play, we could see planning applications increasing the size of Wythall by over 60 per cent.”
He said that, coupled with large scale Solihull developments, there was ‘a major problem looming’.
And he called on the district council to open immediate discussions with neighbouring South Warwickshire to find far more sustainable solution to the area’s housing needs and at a more appropriate scale.
