IN CASTLE Bromwich you can still stand by the Green, or wander round St Mary and St Margaret’s Church, and still feel the village atmosphere that people fell in love with generations ago.
Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens sit close by, mature trees still line the old streets, and there is a quiet to the place that people tell me they treasure.
It’s a place that has been protected on paper since 1980, when the Conservation Area was first designated.
That protection has done some heavy lifting for more than forty years. But it’s not fit for the battles of 2026. That’s why I think it’s time to strengthen the Conservation Area protections or even better give us a Castle Bromwich Neighbourhood Plan to preserve the spirit that is so clearly in peril.
To help get this right I held a public meeting to hear directly from residents, and I am running a survey, shared across the ward, to learn what residents have to say.
Everyone rates preserving Castle Bromwich’s historic character as very important, and what people describe losing is consistent and clear.
Loft conversions going up that are out of scale with the houses beneath them.
New premises – often convenience stores or off-licences – opening with little regard for what’s already there and sometimes seeking hours that stretch from early morning to late at night, close to schools and to homes where older residents live.
Weeds taking over the grass verges on Hall Road. Parking pressure that’s out of control. One resident told me that the streets near the park don’t feel safe to cross, particularly for anyone who struggles to move quickly, and that it shouldn’t take an accident before that gets fixed.
Others raised anti-social behaviour and asked for a more visible police presence, including officers who know the local schools.
None of this is any one person’s fault. But it demands a planning system that is fit for the future. Our rules today were written to judge each application on its own, in isolation.
Those rules are simply not good enough to weigh the cumulative effect of one more shop, one more altered frontage, one more late licence, on top of everything that came before.
Taken individually, each decision might look reasonable but taken together, they are wearing away the character that makes Castle Bromwich special.
So, I am now collating the views of residents before providing our submission to the Council by the end of July.
I will ask for a comprehensive review of the 1980 Conservation Area Appraisal, for the boundary to be extended to take in the Green and the wider historic landscape residents identify as central to the village’s character and for the Council to begin work on a proper Neighbourhood Plan – the strongest tool available to give planning officers real weight when the next application lands on their desk.
I will also press for planning, licensing and enforcement to work together properly, so that decisions on new premises actually reflect what the area can bear, not just what one application looks like in isolation.
If you live in Castle Bromwich and haven’t yet completed the survey, please do so now at liambyrnemp.co.uk/conservation and I’ll report back on the progress we make with the Council. My view is simple. It’s time to obtain the power to protect Castle Bromwich for good.
