CAUTIOUS councillors want a number of issues to be looked at before work can begin on £60million worth of new schools in the area.

Members of Bromsgrove District Council planning committee raised concerns about some of the plans and found the blueprint for Meadows First School and Parkside Middle School the main stumbling block.

At the meeting, on Monday, councillors gave the power to approve proposals to planning officers as long as the applicant, HBG Construction, and Worcestershire County Council looked into the points they had made.

With Meadows First School and Parkside Middle School, on land off Stourbridge Road, planning members deferred a decision, believing the public footpath through the site should be diverted so the school can be moved away from surrounding homes and Meadows First School demolished.

Cllr Bill Newnes (Broms Ind Group-Sidemoor), a school governor at Parkside, said: "Traffic flow would be much better if the current Meadows school was demolished."

When discussing plans for North Bromsgrove High School, in School Drive, concerns were raised about the lack of community use, car park location and overall look of the building.

Cllr Dave McGrath (Broms Ind Group-Beacon) said: "Bromsgrove has a great interest in this and not just in the education side of it but in the community use as well."

Issues raised with plans at South Bromsgrove High School, Charford Road, included security of the site and community use. West Mercia Police also suggested a perimeter fence and CCTV should be considered.

Key points of concern about the Perryfields First School development, on land south east side of Perryfields Road, included the access route through Grayshott Close, the potential dropping off area there, and the problem the extra traffic would cause at the Kidderminster Road and Perryfields Road junction.

It was decided power would be given to officers to approve plans as soon as the key issues have been addressed and that changes to the Meadows First School and Parkside Middle School be looked at again as soon as possible.

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: "We now have the chance to work with Bromsgrove District Council to address the issues raised and hope to do so as soon as possible. However, it is a case of all or nothing with the proposal."