Writing in this week's Bromsgrove Standard (July 31st), Bradley said:
"Traffic congestion and delays across Bromsgrove and the Villages are continuing to blight residents’ lives and are continuing to hamper our local economy.
The recent closure of Sherwood Road is a prime example. This two week closure compounded an already overloaded local road network and caused further misery for drivers and businesses.
That’s why I previously called on Worcestershire County Council to halt all non-essential roadworks in Bromsgrove whilst work on the A38 BREP Scheme continues. It’s just common-sense.
This takes me on to my wider concerns about the entire BREP scheme – something I have been holding Worcestershire County Council to account over ever since I was first elected as your MP.
As I’ve said before, whilst I as an MP have no direct powers over the County Council, I have consistently demanded they urgently investigate improved delivery of this scheme and how it can be achieved in a way that mitigates disruption to vehicles and pedestrians, whilst maintaining an emphasis on pedestrian safety.
This project was agreed to before I was first elected, and I therefore was not able to provide input before spades were put in the ground.
It’s critical that BREP delivers both a tangible improvement in keeping Bromsgrove moving, and in reducing the congestion and gridlock that blights the lives of residents and businesses. However, I know we all fear this won’t be the case.
The elephant in the room is the Government’s 85% increase in our housebuilding target.
BREP was designed well before the Government’s demand that an extra 9,000 homes are built in Bromsgrove and the Villages by 2043. In my view this renders BREP completely useless as it doesn't factor in the 85% housing target increase.
This is compounded by the fact that the Government is refusing to give us any extra infrastructure funding so we can cope with the additional 9,000 houses they want to be built in our constituency.
We need the Government and our local councils to be more ambitious and give Bromsgrove and the Villages a road network that is fit for purpose. I will be fighting for infrastructure funding in the months and years ahead to ensure we keep Bromsgrove moving."
