HAGLEY councillors believe common sense has prevailed after plans to create a traffic rat run through a residential area in the village have been scrapped.

CALA Homes had planned to build a proposed link road in submitted amendments to its major Kidderminster Road development.

But councillors from county, district and Hagley Parish Council have persuaded Worcestershire highways bosses to have the link road removed.

Councillor Steve Colella, a district councillor and Hagley Parish Council chairman, claimed the decision was a victory for democracy and said: "The link road would have made life intolerable for people living in Western Road and Newfield Road as it would have provided access to 265 homes instead of 70.

"We could see the disruption that it would have created for people living in that area of Hagley and I'm delighted we were able to apply enough pressure onto both the developer and highways to highlight the impact that increased traffic would have made.

"As a result, the link road has now been replaced by a pedestrian and cycle path, although the revised plan does add 17 more homes to the CALA scheme."

Cllr Colella added "All the local councillors and residents recognised the potential impact the volume of traffic would create but we weren't listened to.

"It has taken four years for democracy to take effect and I just hope this is a sign of things to come.

"People can see for themselves the congestion that is currently created by the amount of traffic at Hagley island roundabout which is just opposite the CALA Homes development."

John Thompson, land director for CALA Homes Midlands, confirmed: "We were told by the highways authority that we needed a secondary point of access and proposed a link between Kidderminster Road and Western Road.

"But after consulting with the parish council and other interested parties we decided the link road was not acceptable.

"As developers, we need to engage with residents and have found that good localism has worked well."

The first phase of CALA Homes’ Wychbury Fields development is now taking shape and an open weekend last weekend attracted more than 150 visitors keen to catch a glimpse of new show homes.

The development is expected to be completed in 2017.