FED-UP Labour councillor Harrison Rone-Clarke says he has has submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in a bid to ‘get some answers’ on the delays to the promised Strategic Transport Assessment (STA) to map out the town’s future infrastructure.
At a district council meeting in April 2021, the Conservative Group said transport in the whole district would be looked at to ‘futureproof’ the way residents got around and to take into account the climate emergency declared by the authority the year before.
The then member for transport said it would examine walking, cycling, public transport, electric cars and charging points, along with the BOD (Bromsgrove On Demand) shuttle bus.
It was in response to a 5,000-name petition presented to the council by campaign group Whitford Vale Voice and backed by Coun Luke Mallett calling for a Western Relief Road to take traffic around the town centre.
Coun Rone-Clarke said: “Residents have waited patiently for the release of the strategic transport assessment, which was sold to them as a way for the council to assess the possibility/suitability of a Western Relief Road.
“Now that the STA has been delayed for so long, with work having already begun on the two large developments in Bromsgrove West, residents can’t help but feel lied to and that Tory councillors and paid officers have ‘kicked the can down the road in order to shut them up and run down the clock’.”
He said he contacted the district council’s officers to find out what had happened to the STA plans and, after feeling the replies were insufficient, he decided to submit the FOI.
It asks what has been completed so far on the STA, details of correspondences between the district council, Worcestershire County Council, STA contractor and any three parties.
He also requested information about how much the work on the STA had cost, compared to the budget put aside for it.
He added: “I’m disappointed that circumstances have led us here, but I have a duty to ensure that my community isn’t forgotten any longer.”
A Bromsgrove District Council spokesperson said: “As we have told Coun Rone-Clark, the STA is part of the evidence base for the local plan. It helps the council make decisions on how future development across Bromsgrove can be sustainably achieved.
“As the Local Plan has now been delayed, and more work on infrastructure is being sought which includes transport evidence, it would be premature to release the elements of the STA which are in the process of being finalised.
“When the Local Plan preferred option is published, the full evidence base including the full STA which includes new work yet to be commissioned will be published alongside it, and open to full public scrutiny.”
