Dear Sirs
Solihull Local Plan- Draft Submission Plan
Proposed Allocation Site: KN1 Hampton Lane Knowle
Further to your letter of 30 October 2020 sent to me as I am adjacent to the above proposed allocation, I wish to question the viability of including this greenbelt site in the Solihull Local Plan.
It is not possible to establish the true ownership of the various parts of the site KN1, but it is likely that it is in at least 4 different ownerships:
1. Knowle Football Club, I believe this is owned by Knowle Cricket Club and subject to restrictive covenants.
2. The former Thacker’s Nursery I believe is owned by Umberslade Investments.
3. The fields in front of Thacker’s Nursery fronting onto Hampton Road used to be owned by the Southall family formerly of Grimshaw Hall, current ownership unknown.
4. The fields beyond Thacker’s Nursery running up to the canal and also fronting onto Hampton Road, current ownership unknown.
In your proposals you have treated them as a single entity, we believe that the site cannot be delivered in this way for the following reasons:
The Football Club is unlikely to have the funds to purchase and satisfactorily develop the steeply sloping site by the canal into workable level playing pitches ahead of the sale of their existing pitch. This is assuming that the Cricket Club will part with the proceeds of sale and also pay the Community Infrastructure Levy. In the past we believe the Football Club have struggled to maintain their present clubhouse, will they have the necessary funds to build and maintain a larger complex with the necessary parking etc? Do the restrictive covenants prevent the existing football pitch being developed? The removal of any covenants could necessitate legal action, if so who pays for this?
The agricultural fields in front of Grimshaw hall fronting Hampton Road, currently being Greenbelt have a limited value. Will the owner of these fields be prepared for this land to become Public Open Space thus not benefitting from the enhanced value enjoyed by the owner’s of Thacker’s Nursery, even though the residential development is supposedly dependent on this open space.
The owners of the fields that are proposed to form the new sports complex again will not have the advantage of the hugely inflated land values enjoyed by Thacker’s Nursery. One must question whether this land will be available as sports pitches at an affordable price.
It would appear that the whole of KN1 has been submitted as a possible site on a number of assumptions that may not be deliverable. If the site is taken out of the Greenbelt it is possible that the developers will seek permission to develop Thacker’s Nursery on its own, which should be resisted as it forms part of “The Meriden Gap”, and in the most part forms an extension of the urbanisation, rather than a “Rounding Off”.
Before finally submitting our views on your portal we would be obliged if you explain to us how the KN1 scheme can be delivered as an entity, taking into account all of the various ownerships. We can only imagine the future disagreements over land values and who pays for what between the owners.
Yours faithfully