Writing in this week's (September 12th) Bromsgrove Standard, Bradley said:
"I'm incredibly lucky to represent such a beautiful part of our country. Not that I need reminding of that, but on my recent visit to the Clent Hills I couldn’t help but reflect on that fact.
I was there to meet with the Chairman of the National Trust, René Olivieri, to discuss their vision of an 8 Hills Regional Park.
The 8 Hills, an area around 47 square miles, is made up of Clent Hill, Romsley Hill, Frankley Beeches, Waseley Hill, Beacon Hill, Cofton Hill, Wast Hill and Weatheroak Hill, is home to 1.4 million people within a 15 minute drive – an amazing opportunity to make this greenspace more accessible.
The National Trust are working on exciting visionary, landscape-scale plans to create an independent, locally governed organisation for the 8 Hills area that would enhance public access to nature, support biodiversity, channel funding into green infrastructure and align development with community wellbeing – certainly a hot topic here in Bromsgrove and the Villages right now.
It’s important to stress that no one is asking for more council tax money from you in order to fund this project. It will be led by the National Trust, with the support of local councils, and there are several different places funding could come according to the National Trust, this could include: adding key infrastructure to attract visitors to different parts of the park, potentially including cafés and leisure facilities that generate income, planning contributions from developers, grant funding, private investment, and health funding, related to the wellbeing benefits of the park.
The 8 Hills Regional Park has my full support. Why? Because new walking routes would be created for local residents and visitors to improve access to nature, it would boost tourism to our stunning constituency, support local businesses, and it would foster a shared identity and sense of place.
It would also tie in with the work I’m doing to save our greenbelt and to defend our rural way of life. The 8 Hills Regional Park would act as a non-statutory consultee for planning applications to help shape better developments.
My next step in supporting the 8 Hills Regional Park is to bring the National Trust and Bromsgrove District Council together. I’ll be urging the District Council to include 8 Hills in their Local Plan and to recognise 8 Hills as a non-statutory consultee for planning applications.
This is an exciting opportunity for our constituency, and how great would it be that this local project could become a national template. How proud we would all be if it started right here in Bromsgrove and the Villages. It’s time to make the 8 Hills Regional Park a reality."
