Balancing Progress and Preservation

In Bromsgrove, a significant construction project along the A38 is underway, aiming to reshape the town’s infrastructure, sparking both optimism and outrage amongst locals.

The plans, set out by Worcestershire County Council, detail a series of junction and carriageway improvements, including a walk and cycle path dedicated to ‘active travellers’, for those who cycle or walk to work. The aim is to minimise traffic and congestion in the area with larger lanes and to encourage locals to Bromsgrove to commute to work along a safer route, linking the town centre with the railway station.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, for Highways and Transport, said “It’s a fifty million pound scheme and we certainly hope that it will improve traffic flow in and around Bromsgrove. There will be ped-way and cycleway improvements so that we can get more people on their bikes and walking.

“Unfortunately for the scheme, we have had to remove a number of trees and green areas, but we are promising that for every tree we remove we will plant two new ones. Unfortunately, it is necessary for the widening and improvements of transport in the area. I regret it but it is a necessary evil.”

Tree, Stratford Road, credit Imogen Baller

The project has ignited fierce opposition, particularly from residents in the area concerned about the loss of green spaces, with a certain one hundred and fifty-year-old tree being a main cause for concern. A small protest group gathered last year to try to save the tree, to little avail from the council.

Hannah Collett, a local woman said, “It is just such a shame, seeing the sheer number of trees being cut down, imagine all the wildlife they’re affecting. It’s an eye-sore now, all those trees cut down, a part of the town’s history, gone, you can never get that back. All for a bike path and a wider road.”

While Bromsgrove District Council has highlighted the benefits of the project, reduced congestion, resulting in reduced air pollution, and safer walking and cycle routes for people, many argue it comes at much too high an environmental cost.