PEOPLE living in Lower Broadheath have criticised expansion plans that could see the parish grow up to four times its current size.

Parish councillors have warned many of the 3,500 homes planned near Dines Green, Worcester, will be in Lower Broadheath parish.

It currently has 750 homes and many fear the expansion would change the character of the community and see the village merge with the city.

As previously reported, the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy group, a combination of Worcester city, Malvern Hills and Wychavon councils, has put forward a preferred option in response to central government demands for more housing.

If agreed, the plans would see more than 20,000 homes across south Worcestershire before 2026, with new roads, railway halts and park-and-rides also created.

However, at a meeting of Lower Broadheath parish council, chairman Barbara Beard said she was dismayed that Malvern Hills District Council’s planning committee had recommended the report to full council despite objections from local members.

Coun Beard said: “A lot of the homes will be in the parish and, although we accept that change is inevitable, our main concern is the infrastructure and highways.” She believes the idea will badly affect parishioners because there are no plans to complete the north-west link road or create a new bridge to link with the A449 at Claines.

She said: “The village lanes are already used as ‘rat runs’ by people attempting to avoid congestion on the southern link road.”

She also believes dual tracking on the road and Carrington Bridge will not cope with the extra traffic.

She said: “At the planning stage, one of our members raised the objections of the parish and we were told these objections are detail. They are not – 3,500 houses are not a detail. They haven’t come and spoken to us or contacted us in any way. Malvern Hills District Council has promised further consultation but now that the principles have been established, it is unlikely they will result in any meaningful changes.”

Coun Reg Farmer, chairman of the district council’s planning committee, said: “Parish councils still have an opportunity to put their views. Housing development is not a quick process.

“There is going to be concern over the number of proposed houses but the Government is adamant this is the number for this area.

“The decision still has to go to full council and the debate is still going on. I think it is wrong for people to say we do not take notice of them.”