HAGLEY residents have accused Bromsgrove District Council chiefs of short-changing them over the government's New Homes Bonus scheme.

At Monday's NHB public forum, at the Council House, £84,000 was earmarked for communities in 2015/16 from funds generated by new builds across the district.

The offer, which equals 20 per cent of the £420,152 paid to the authority last year under the NBH scheme, was branded "an insult" by Hagley Action Group members who petitioned the council urging for funds raised from new developments in the village to be ploughed back into Hagley.

Lead petitioner Pete Rowbottom said: "Many of the public who attended the meeting could barely contain their anger at the derisory amount of money being offered.

"It is certainly an insult to the 1,400 or so local people who signed the largest petition ever to be presented to the council asking for the appropriate money to be passed on.

"It could mean Hagley and other villages being left with only a couple of thousand pounds to spend towards a community centre, village hall, scouts and guides facilities plus other local sports clubs.

"And all this at the same time as the council have just recently announced a surplus of £650,000 from last year's accounts."

He was backed by resident Chris Morgan who said: "Bromsgrove District Council appear to have lost touch with the people they are supposed to be representing.

"It is an insult what they have offered and they are simply short-changing us.

"The government introduced this New Homes Bonus to help communities affected by developments and to help the infrastructure of the villages.

"Although the money isn't ring-fenced, councils are encouraged to help the communities - but instead it seems Bromsgrove have squirrelled it away."

Independent district councillor for Hagley and chairman of Hagley Parish Council, Steve Colella, said his difference of opinion on the NHB was one of the reasons he quit the Tory group.

He added: "What a disgrace.

"It really did feel like a tale from a Dickens story; the portly gent eating a lavish dinner of port and partridge, lording it over his subjects allowing them to scratch amongst the crumbs from his table.

"This leadership has spectacularly lost touch with the people they were elected to represent."

The council, which receives £1,455 for each home built plus extra money for each affordable one, has received £1.3million since the NHB scheme was introduced but finance portfolio holder, Councillor Mike Webb, said cash had previously been used to avoid cuts to frontline services after the reduction of central government grants.

Cllr Webb said the money allocated for the coming year was a "good starting point" and that good, persuasive councillors would fight to get cash for community projects in their area. He stressed money would go to the best business cases that evidenced an impact on their area and added: "We want to ensure there is a scheme that is fair to everybody."