FAT THEO – aka Anthony Theophanous – moved to Bromsgrove in 2014 after growing up in south Birmingham.
Since then, as well as being known for his stand-up comedy, performances in Artrix’s Treasure Island pantomime and his recent idea to create a new Bromsgrove Fringe Festival, he has also become a community champion for his adopted town.
Theo also ran The Duke of York in Sidemoor for a time, hosting local comedy and music nights and giving up-and-coming artists a platform. While there, he also ran a foodbank to help those in need and less fortunate.
He is a passionate Bromsgrove Sporting FC supporter and has shared plenty of views on the club in the past.
His musings on his Facebook page also get plenty of interactions and comments and he has become well-known in the town.
In this new column for the Standard – Theo’s Thoughts – he will look at issues and aspects affecting Bromsgrove, through his eyes and those of the people living in the town who he speaks to.
Change for the better?
WHEN I decided to write this column, I said I wanted it to be a voice for the people of Bromsgrove.
So this week I did the simplest thing possible – I asked residents – by posting in a few local community groups on Facebook – what concerned them most about our town right now.
The responses came quickly, and the themes were familiar. housing, traffic, school places and pressure on local services came up again and again.
It got me thinking about just how much Bromsgrove has changed over the past decade.
When you look at the numbers, the scale of that change becomes clearer.
Around 2,100 new homes have been approved across developments such as Perryfields, Whitford Road and Norton Farm.
On paper that might sound like just another planning statistic.
In reality it represents roughly 5,000 new residents and potentially more than 1,000 additional school-age children.
Planning rules do try to account for that growth.
Lack of infrastructure
When large housing developments are approved, developers are usually required to contribute towards infrastructure through what are known as Section 106 agreements.
These contributions from developers are intended to help fund things, such as roads, transport improvements and school places needed as new families move into an area.
In Bromsgrove’s case, some of those contributions run into the millions.
One development alone secured more than £6million towards first school provision. It is also worth noting that education funding from these agreements usually goes to Worcestershire County Council, which is responsible for schools, rather than Bromsgrove District Council, which approves the planning applications.
That raises a simple question many residents would probably like a clear answer to.
If developers are paying millions in contributions intended to support infrastructure like school places, where exactly has that money gone, and how has it been used to prepare Bromsgrove for the town’s growing population?
Despite those contributions, many of the comments I received still centred on pressure on local services.
School places, traffic congestion and access to doctors were all raised repeatedly.
That does not necessarily mean the system is not working, but it does highlight a question many people seem to be asking: are the town’s services expanding at the same pace as its housing?
‘A town cared about by its people’
Bromsgrove is a town people care about – and that was clear from the number of responses I received.
Growth can bring opportunity, but it also brings responsibility.
If we are adding thousands of homes and thousands of new residents, we should be just as focused on making sure the schools, roads and services grow alongside them.
Because at the end of the day, a town is not just houses and planning applications. It is the community that lives there.
If you have thoughts about Bromsgrove’s future or issues you think deserve attention, feel free to get in touch.
I would love to hear from you. Get in touch via my Facebook page or email: [email protected]
‘Bromsgrove deserves better conversations. Let’s keep having them’
