Object

Solihull Local Plan (Draft Submission) 2020

Representation ID: 10655

Received: 01/12/2020

Respondent: Mr Edward Tan

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Representation Summary:

Objects to the allocation of Site 4/BL1 for residential development
Dickens Heath should be protected and conserved as a new village, together with its character and setting in the countryside.
The proposed large-scale housing allocations would reduce or remove key gaps between settlements such as Majors Green and Tidbury Green.
Proposed Housing Allocation Site 4/BL1 is not in a sustainable location and would create substantial car traffic.
There would be a major loss of sports grounds and playing fields.
Loss of the Akamba Heritage Centre on Tythe Barn Lane.
There is no prospect of any community benefit from the Site 4/BL1 proposal which could outweigh the loss of it as an existing leisure, cultural and recreation facility.
The majority of the Housing Allocation Site 4/BL1 location would exceed the accepted walking distance of 800 metres to the centre of the Village. Increased traffic would place an unacceptable burden on the road system and the existing Village centre car parking shortage.
The proposals are unsustainable on highway safety grounds, adding to current pressures and the increased through traffic from Tidbury Green and Tythe Barn Lane. Major road improvements cannot be carried out without removal of established hedgerows and mature trees. The internal Village road network cannot be upgraded.
There will be a loss of ecological value as there are two badger setts on the sports fields. Bats, sparrow hawks, greater spotted wood peckers also fly over the site for foraging.
To build houses on Site 4/BL1, there would need to be extensive piling. The cost of developing this site would be unsustainable.

Change suggested by respondent:

Removal of Policy BL1

Full text:

Ed Tan of 34 Tythe Barn Lane, Dickens Heath, Solihull, B90 1RW’s
response to the Emerging Concept Masterplan
As one of the first residents in Dickens Heath having moved to Tythe Barn Lane in 1998 and lived at the current address for over twenty years, I object to the allocation of Site 4 for residential development of 350 dwellings in the strongest terms.
Dickens Heath is a planned new village with clearly defined limits. It is unique in Solihull as having emerged through the Unitary Development Plan process as an entirely new community. It has an architectural character of its own. Dickens Heath should be identified in the Emerging Concept Masterplan as having a particular character and design and that there should be limits to its continued growth in terms of numbers and direction; the Village should be protected and conserved as a new village, together with its character and setting in the countryside.
The housing proposals for Dickens Heath in the Emerging Concept Masterplan do not comply with the stated Policies as set out in both the existing adopted Local Plan and this Emerging Concept Masterplan. It would be unsustainable and would no longer make Dickens Heath a “special place”.
“… whilst retaining its intrinsic character of distinctive villages separated by open countryside“. The proposed major development of Site 4 would not be in accordance with this stated policy and does not align with Government policy to protect Green Belt from development.
The proposed large-scale housing allocations on Green Belt land in Dickens Heath Parish would be a major expansion of the urban area and would reduce or remove key gaps between settlements such as Majors Green and Tidbury Green. The attractive rural setting of Dickens Heath will be partly lost to development. In Dickens Heath Parish, access to the countryside and recreational opportunities will be reduced, not improved.
Proposed Housing Allocation Site 4 would not be in a sustainable location and would create substantial car traffic. While it would be close to Whitlock’s End railway station, the rail service at that station gives access to Central Birmingham and to Stratford-upon-Avon. No service is provided between said station and Solihull Town Centre, for which there is only a slow and indirect bus service or across the Borough to UK Central. There would no direct access from Site 4 to the services and facilities in Dickens Heath village itself, as there would be no direct road or cycleway to the village centre. Cycle and pedestrian access to the village centre was a core principle of the design for Dickens Heath.
If Site 4 is included in the Emerging Concept Masterplan, there would be a major loss of sports grounds and playing fields. The Green Belt which would be lost to Site 4 contains a variety of different types of sports facilities. The proposed replacement sports facility on Site 4 between Tythe Barn Lane and the Stratford Canal would not adequately replace the many sports clubs’ requirements. There are already many objections to the loss of the several current sports fields and facilities; these are used by people from a large area of the Conurbation and surrounding towns.
The suggested replacement new sports facilities – which appear to be included as part of the housing allocation - are more urban and would include significant built development and car parking. They would be too large and intensive to be capable of being appropriate development in Green Belt. The openness of the Green Belt, which the current sports fields preserve effectively, would be lost. There would be no guarantee that that new sports area would not be the subject of further housing development proposals later. It should be entirely removed from the Housing Allocation site if that allocation remains despite the Parish Council’s deep concerns about it in principle.
Additionally, and significantly, the valuable and popular Akamba Heritage Centre on Tythe Barn Lane would be lost, which is also a good local employer. Akamba offers an unusual leisure and recreation experience and its character contributes to the quality of the environment. It merits protection under Policy P10. There is no prospect of any community benefit from the Site 4 proposal which could outweigh the loss of it as an existing leisure, cultural and recreation facility.
This has not been the case in proposing Site 4 against the evidence provided in the Green Belt Review with the Green Belt in this location scoring 7 & 8 due to the coalescence with neighbouring settlements. Site 13 has a lower Green Belt score of 6. Site 4 would significantly adversely affect the Village character and rural setting and would be unsustainable as the proposed development is more than accepted walking distance of 800 metres to the centre of the Village. As this increased traffic would place an unacceptable burden on the already inadequate, congested road system and the existing Village centre car parking shortage, the proposals would not be in accordance with the stated policy.
The original concept design for Dickens Heath stated that “A village works as one cohesive entity because the perception is that everything is within easy walking distance”. The emphasis for the scheme as a whole is on accessibility where the majority of the residents will be no more than 5 minutes walking time from the centre. The majority of the Housing Allocation Site 4 location would exceed this walking distance, so the new residents would favour the use of four wheeled motor vehicles to the village amenities (where car parking is already a major problem). In transport terms Site 4 would be entirely unsustainable.
The highway network for the original design of the Village was for only 700 dwellings. This figure was subsequently increased to a long term maximum of 1,500 dwellings with some highway improvements, but the current highway network is unsuitable for the current 2,200 dwellings plus the increased through traffic from Tidbury Green when both Lowbrook Farm and Tidbury Green Farm developments are completed, never mind an additional 350 dwellings plus the cut-through traffic that also use Tythe Barn Lane. Again on highway safety grounds the proposals are unsustainable. If major further development was to take place, major road improvements would have to be carried out. However, this would mean the removal of established hedgerows and mature trees which greatly add to and enhance the character and setting of the Village and the central Village road network was not designed for such usage. In addition it is not possible to upgrade the internal Village road network through which additional traffic would have to travel. Paragraph 32 of the NPPF states that development should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe. Development of 350 additional dwellings would have a cumulative severe impact on the area.
“In general Dickens Heath has strong boundaries defined by the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal on two sides and a site of interest to Nature Conservation (SINC)”. The SINC comprises of an ancient woodland which forms a natural boundary to the north-west.
There would also be a loss of ecological value as there are two badger setts on the sports fields. Bats, sparrow hawks, greater spotted wood peckers also fly over the site for foraging.
To build houses on Site 4, there would need to be extensive piling. Evidence from neighbouring sites show that piling had to go to depths of 8m owing to the presence of boulder clay. The cost of developing this site would therefore also be unsustainable and a considerable amount of fill material would have to be brought in as the site is liable to flooding during sustained wet periods.
For the reasons given above, I call on Solihull Council to remove the proposed allocation of Site 4 west of Dickens Heath from the Emerging Concept Masterplan.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Tan