Dear Sir/Madam

My wife and I have lived in Bills Lane for 27 years. When we first arrived, there was little traffic on the road, now, and along with the surrounding roads, it is extremely busy with “Rat Run” traffic from Cheswick Green, Dicken’s Heath and latterly, Tidbury Green. We are very concerned about the development being built on Wood’s Farm land (BL3) and following the hill down to the railway bridge. The amount of traffic generated by this new estate emerging onto Bills Lane will make it even busier than it is at the moment, totally changing the character of the road.
Many local people use this area for walks and to enjoy the peace and quiet away from the constant presence of traffic. It is also part of a wonderful green space which already benefits from much needed tree stock and is well used for recreational purposes by the local residents.
We are also concerned that the much-needed green spaces between Shirley and the vastly increasing urban sprawl of Cheswick Green, Dickens Heath and Tidbury Green are rapidly disappearing. These should not be merged as these spaces will be lost forever and severe flood risk will result.
The proliferation of retirement properties is highly noticeable around Shirley and appears disproportionate to the needs of existing residents. What is needed are starter homes/apartments specifically affordable for first time buyers unable to afford the “Executive” homes so favoured by the developers. It would appear that Shirley is turning into a dumping ground for the majority of the housing requirements forced upon the Borough by the Government.
With the influx of a lot more residents coming into the area it is a foregone conclusion that the health services will be completely overwhelmed as will the transport infrastructure.

Yours faithfully
Ruth and David Neal
112 Bills Lane
Shirley
SOLIHULL
West Midlands
B90 2PF