A CAMPAIGN group against a proposed housing development in Redditch say the extra homes would further increase traffic in an already congested area.

A planning application was submitted by David Wilson Homes in December 2021 for 216 homes on parts of Abbey Park Golf Club and on fields next to Hither Green Lane and Dagnell End Road.

Residents joined forces to create North Redditch Communities Alliance (NoRCA), with the aim to challenge the plans.

NoRCA says its main concern is the impact the development will have on traffic in the area as it will affect everyone in Redditch who use A441 Birmingham Road.

However, David Wilson Homes says the ‘proposed traffic mitigation scheme’ will not ‘result in an increase in traffic’.

Redditch Advertiser: Site plan for proposed homes.Site plan for proposed homes. (Image: David Wilson Homes.)

The group says the A441 junction with Dagnell End Road is a bottleneck at peak time and the situation has been exacerbated by almost continuous road works and temporary traffic lights.

Traffic flow was measured by the developer’s consultant on November 15, but NoRCA says this was immediately following a seven-month period of major road works where motorists used alternative routes, so the study was carried out during a period of reduced traffic flow.

Mark Jacobs, chair of NoRCA said “After many, many months of asking for this data to be made available, when it eventually was produced, it clearly misrepresents the situation.  

“Redditch does not need the houses; it is already on track to smash its targets for years to come.

“Moreover, there is no justification whatsoever to build on green open space land.”

A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Mercia said: “The traffic assessment for our proposed development on land at Hither Green Lane, Redditch was carried out by an independent, specialist transport consultancy, in close collaboration with the local highways authority and to all the necessary standards.”