A LOCAL family fears 200 years of history will be lost when bulldozers move in to start work on building 2,800 new homes on land from Bentley village to Foxlydiate in Redditch.
The Boss family have farmed prime agricultural land at Bentley for generations but now Andy Boss, who was born and bred in the village, says all that could be swept away after planning inspector Michael Hetherington came down in favour of the massive development.
“It’s a disaster – the whole area is going to be destroyed, an entire community broken up and the for sale signs will be going up too,” said Andy, chairman of Bentley and Pauncefoot parish council.
“We are totally disillusioned by the inspector’s decision. The plan is flawed – he originally asked for modifications but the only thing that’s been modified is his mind,” he added.
“The way the plan is, we are going to have to go to Tardebigge or out to Elcocks Brook to get to Redditch, and then there’s the risk of flooding – it will impact on Norgrove Court and as far away as Himbleton too.”
Although Mr Boss’s land is not earmarked for development he’s says the lack of a decent road system will destroy the area for ever.
“The infrastructure simply isn’t there to cope with the volume of traffic this development will generate. It will destroy the area.”
Members of the Webheath Action Group and Bentley Area Action Group now want to know why the alternative Bordesley site wasn’t chosen instead.
Andy’s father, Roger, said: “The question I want to ask the inspector is why they cannot build on Bordesley? It’s close to the railway line, it’s right by Redditch and all the infrastructure is already in place. Over here it is going to be chaos.”
The campaigners have been backed by both local MPs, Sajid Javid of Bromsgrove, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Redditch MP Karen Lumley, who have called the plan in to be re-examined by the Housing Minister. Both support building at Bordesley instead.
County councillor Robin Lunn (Lab, Redditch North) said: “I feel very sorry for local residents – their views do not seem to have been listened to at all and I truly hope this plan will be reviewed.
“The great sadness is that the inspector did not go into any detail on why he chose to look at the West (Webheath) rather than the North (Bordesley).”
