SWATHES of green belt land around Hagley could be concreted over in a dash for new homes, a local councillor fears.

Councillor Steve Colella recently failed in a bid to get Bromsgrove District Council to pause a review of land for new houses across the borough because he fears the area will be put under intense pressure to provide too much land for houses.

He fears ‘beautiful pastures and tree lines’ will disappear as the district is potentially asked to double or triple development to accommodate 10, 000 to 15,000 new homes in the next five to ten years.

Members of the Alliance group of independent councillors on Bromsgrove District Council fear major new developments getting the go ahead in areas such as Hagley, Barnt Green, Wythall, and Alvechurch.

Cllr Colella, the leader of the Alliance, said that at the moment the current housing plan for the district envisaged 2,500 between now and 2030.

But the government have set ambitious new build targets and he fears growing pressure to build many more homes, and much faster.

He believed a pause in the current review being carried out by the council until the government’s intentions were clearer would have taken the pressure off. The proposal was defeated at the Tory-controlled council meeting.

He warned: “It’s risky to continue with this review. We need to be mindful of protecting the green belt and not to overdevelop.

“Birmingham and the Black Country cannot accommodate their own housing, so Bromsgrove will be expected to take overspill.

“These houses are a long time built. We don’t want to make the mistake that was made in 1960s, when loads of high rise buildings were thrown up and we have ended up pulling a lot of them down.”

He is working on a neighbourhood plan for Hagley which aims to ensure that development is related to local need and is empathetic, not based on numbers dictated from above.