Issue - meetings

As highlighted by the Chairman at the Council meeting held on 8^th October 2025 the attached Motion is being considered at this Extraordinary Council meeting due to exceptional circumstances.

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider this motion on notice.  This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

Councillor J. Robinson presented a Motion on Notice for Members’ consideration.  In doing so, he highlighted that he was altering the wording of the Motion that he had submitted, and which had been included in the agenda to read as follows:

“The A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme has been an unmitigated disaster for our town.

Hundreds of trees have been felled, and the project will not resolve the issues of traffic in our town.

The Council resolves to ask the Leader of the Council to urgently write to the Leader of Worcestershire County Council placing on record Bromsgrove District Council’s opposition to the project and call for a full review and consultation with the community.”

Councillor Robinson clarified that he had decided to remove reference to placing schemes that had not started on hold as circumstances had changed since the Motion was first submitted for Council’s consideration in July 2025.

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Robinson and seconded by Councillor R. Hunter.

In proposing the Motion, Councillor Robinson commented that in his view the A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme (BREP) had not worked well.  Councillor Robinson had attended consultation events with the public and in doing so had heard from local residents about their concerns regarding the scale of the project.  Members were asked to note that many trees had been felled during the works which had been opposed by many residents.  Reference was made to the intention of BREP and it was suggested that these works had been launched to address traffic congestion in Bromsgrove.  However, Councillor Robinson suggested that BREP was unlikely to resolve problems with traffic congestion in the town.

In seconding the Motion, Councillor Hunter commented that there was a need to learn lessons from the BREP works and to ensure that the current situation was not repeated once a new unitary authority was serving Bromsgrove.  Councillor Hunter expressed concerns about the impact that BREP had had on residents’ lives and the delays to traffic caused by the works.  The suggestion was also made that an opportunity had been missed to undertake a modal shift to more sustainable forms of transport in the town.

Members subsequently discussed the Motion and in doing so expressed concerns about the impact of the works on traffic congestion in the town.  It was noted that the Leader had previously been asked at a Council meeting to write to Worcestershire County Council regarding this matter and that she had done so.  The suggestion was made that in this context, as the issues causing concern had persisted, Members needed to continue to raise this matter with the County Council.

Clarification was provided regarding the background to the BREP works.  Members were asked to note that the Department for Transport (DfT) had provided enhancement funding.  In addition, the Midlands Engine was driving forward the project.  Concerns had been raised with the DfT that the works were unlikely to resolve challenges relating to traffic congestion.

During discussion of this item, consideration  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64