Bromsgrove Golf Centre: 700 homes, 542 objections

National Highways has told Bromsgrove District Council not to grant planning permission for up to 700 homes on Bromsgrove Golf Centre for a further three months, so that the developer can produce more evidence about traffic.

The recommendation, dated 10 August, is one of two significant objections now on the file. England Golf, the sport’s national governing body, has also objected, saying the centre delivers around 60,000 rounds of golf a year and runs one of the largest junior academies in England.

The application, reference 26/00779/OUT, was submitted by Blenheim Strategic Partners LLP and validated on 30 June 2026. It has drawn 551 public comments, 542 of them objections and 4 in support, from 276 households the council consulted directly. Comments were still arriving on 24 August.

What is proposed

The site is the whole of Bromsgrove Golf Centre on Stratford Road: 59.42 hectares on the eastern edge of the town, taking in the clubhouse, the 18-hole course and the driving range. The application is in outline, with everything reserved for later except the access onto the A38 Birmingham Road at the Slideslow roundabout.

According to the applicant’s own environmental statement, the land would be divided like this:

• 19.24 ha of housing, for up to 700 homes, half of them affordable
• 34.07 ha of informal open space, including 31.4 ha of natural and semi-natural greenspace
• 1.44 ha reserved for a two-form-entry first school with 300 places and a nursery with 52 places
• 0.9 ha of formal sport: an all-weather pitch for hockey, tennis and recreational football, plus a multi-use games area

The existing buildings would be demolished. New bus, pedestrian and cycle access points, access roads, parking and surface water drainage basins are also part of the scheme.

An earlier request for an environmental impact assessment scoping opinion on the same site, made in October 2025, was for up to 900 dwellings. The council issued its opinion on 18 December 2025. The application that followed is for 700.

The green belt argument

Under the adopted Bromsgrove District Local Plan the golf centre is designated Green Belt. The applicant’s consultant, tor&co, has submitted a Grey Belt Assessment which concludes the site “is considered capable of meeting the definition of Grey Belt”, on the basis that it does not strongly contribute to green belt purposes a, b or d as those are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

That classification carries a price. The council’s housing strategy officer told the case officer on 11 August that if the site is classified as grey belt, there would be a requirement for a minimum of 50% affordable housing, 350 of the 700 homes. Of those, the council would want 233 for social rent and 117 as shared ownership or a similar product, half of them with three bedrooms.

What National Highways said

National Highways is a statutory consultee because the site sits near the strategic road network: 2.0 km from M42 junction 1, and 4.7 km from M5 junction 4 at Lydiate Ash.

Its response of 10 August recommends “that planning permission not be granted for a further period of three months from the date of this notice, to allow the applicant time to submit additional information”. That period runs to about 10 November.

The safety point is the sharpest of its criticisms. National Highways says its own review found a concentration of collisions at M5 junctions 4 and 5 which “appear to have been excluded from the study area assessment”, including a fatal collision on the M5 and six serious injury collisions across the A38 and M5 corridors near junction 5. It has asked for both junctions to be added to the study area and analysed.

It also asks the applicant to:

• clarify whether a local centre forms part of the scheme, because the transport assessment refers to one and the rest of the submission does not
• provide expected pupil and staff numbers for the school and nursery
• explain why traffic growth is applied from a 2025 base year to 2043 when the surveys were done in 2026
• set out the phasing, if the scheme is to be built in stages

If the council decides to grant permission against that recommendation, it has to consult the Secretary of State for Transport first and cannot determine the application until that process is complete.

What England Golf said

Sport England was consulted on 22 July and replied on 7 August that the proposal falls outside its statutory remit, so it offered general advice rather than a detailed response. It pointed the council to paragraph 104 of the National Planning Policy Framework on the loss of sports facilities, and named England Golf as the relevant governing body to ask.

England Golf’s response, filed on 18 August, “strongly objects”. It says the centre supports county and regional player development, coaching for seniors, sessions for women and girls and opportunities for disabled golfers, and that the application “has not demonstrated how existing participation programmes, junior development opportunities, county training activities, beginner pathways, driving range access and affordable pay-and-play opportunities would be adequately replaced”.

That is a direct challenge to the applicant’s case. The environmental statement argues the opposite: it says a review found 29 other golf facilities with nine or 18 holes within a 30-minute drive, 15 of them at comparable prices and all 15 with capacity to take more members, and concludes that losing the centre is “a slight adverse effect that will not be significant”.

Bromsgrove Golf Club has objected in its own name. The town’s MP, Bradley Thomas, has been campaigning against the application on his website since 24 August.

What it means for you

• You can still comment. The register gives a latest consultation expiry of 6 September 2026, and the council accepts comments while an application is undetermined. Quote reference 26/00779/OUT.
• Comments have to be about planning matters to carry weight: green belt harm, highway safety, drainage, loss of a sports facility, effects on schools and health services. Strength of feeling on its own does not decide an application.
• The dates to watch are the council’s internal target of 6 October and its determination deadline of 20 October. National Highways has asked for nothing to be granted before about 10 November, so an extension of time is likely.
• If it is approved, half the homes would be affordable, and the land for a 300-place first school and a 52-place nursery would come with them.
• The site is one of two large green belt housing schemes live in the district right now. The other is at Buntsford Hill, where up to 293 homes are proposed and comments close on 8 September.

Sources

• Bromsgrove District Council planning register, application 26/00779/OUT for the reference, the applicant, the agent, the case officer, the dates and the comment totals.
• The same register, scoping opinion 25/01258/EOR for the earlier request covering up to 900 dwellings, decided 18 December 2025.
• Environmental statement non-technical summary, submitted 30 June 2026, for the 59.42 hectare site area, the land use split, the school and nursery places, the sports provision and the review of 29 alternative golf facilities. Filed under the documents tab of 26/00779/OUT.
• Grey Belt Assessment by tor&co, submitted 30 June 2026, for the green belt designation and the grey belt conclusion.
• National Highways planning response, 10 August 2026, for the three-month recommendation, the collision data and the requests for further information.
• Sport England consultation response, 7 August 2026, and England Golf objection, 18 August 2026, for the governing body position and the 60,000 rounds figure.
• Bromsgrove District Council housing strategy officer’s consultation response, 11 August 2026, for the 50% affordable requirement and its tenure split.
• Bradley Thomas MP, Bromsgrove Golf Club’s youngest members explain why Bromsgrove Golf Centre must be saved, 24 August 2026.