As a resident of Dickens Heath for some 28 years, I originally support the first development of 750 dwellings but cannot support this new development. I object to planning 350 more houses in Dickens Heath site BL1 for the following reasons:

The proposed site is classed as flood zone 1, however, the area floods every single year, and the drains in the area cannot cope. The surface water drains are designed for a rural area, not an urban one. The drains are basically open ditches that are poorly maintained. Every time there is heavy rainfall on Tilehouse Lane and Tythe Barn Lane the drains are overflowing with water lying on the roads. The last time flooding warnings were ignored by the Solihull council, the development by Bellway Homes on Dickens Heath Road (0.25 miles away) ended up flooding the newly built houses and families had to vacate from their homes within the first year of living there. This has resulted in the insurance companies increasing premiums in this area. The area is wet and prone to flooding already with rugby and football matches often postponed during the winter periods due to waterlogging. This area is of bolder clay that restricts permeability. Given the fact that a sustainable urban drainage (SUD) system is proposed, proves the unsustainability of this site when other “Amber” sites have far fewer constraints.

The whole foul sewerage system will have to be upgraded/replaced and the current pump station on Tythe Barn Lane will not be able to cope with the extra demand which will result in the overflowing of sewerage.

The area is a habitat for natural wildlife with foxes, deer, badgers, and bats often seen on Tythe Barn Lane and surrounding fields, Unfortunately, they are also often found dead in the roads in this area. The building on these fields will disturb wildlife and take away their habitat. These objections were ignored by the Council previously when the new Bellway Development and our house on Dickens Heath Road were twice occupied by bats. It should not be allowed to build 350 houses only a few yards from where these animals live (Tythe Barn). This development will result in more street lights and lighting from houses which will affect their feeding and foraging and will lead to the needless deaths of a species that has an already declining population. There has been no bat survey report nor any mitigation plan/method statement in the planning application. Site BL1 is a Green Belt area, which has not been taken into consideration in the Sustainability Appraisal. Central Government Policy is to protect the Green Belt and develop on Brownfield land first.

The increase of residents in Dickens Heath will put added pressure on Solihull Health Partnership which is at a breaking point. To get a doctor's appointment it takes a month due to the waiting times. The council is already failing its current constituents with the lack of services, why put added pressure on this issue by adding a further 350 homes to the local area. Additional to this, the Whitlocks End Station car park was only extended a few years ago and it already cannot facilitate the growing population in the local area. There are new housing plots on Tilehouse Lane and Lowbrook Lane which are less than a mile from the proposed plot. Locals in the area should not suffer from being unable to use facilities due to the council accepting ill-thought-out developments. The extra strain on the Council and local schools will result in the busing of not just secondary school children but also nursey / junior school children or an increase in car trips. The Council has reduced the opening times for the library due to budget restrictions and does not have the budget to maintain what it has let alone add to its commitments to the residents of the Borough.

Traffic on Dickens Heath Road is overflowing with traffic during rush hour. This traffic flows up Tythe Barn Lane. The roads and village were never built for this level of traffic it currently has and there are no plans to facilitate the growing population in the area. The first road design for the village was to discourage cars (improve buses and train links) and restrict parking. Adding another 350 houses when there are unfinished new building plots less than a mile away will make the area an incredibly inconvenient place to live. The Traffic Study does propose some works to improve the congestion in peak hours but the situation will be further exacerbated by the huge number of new homes proposed in the area and South Shirley. The Council only propose to solve the Village Centre parking problem by controlling some on-street parking which will not solve the existing problem and will only be made worse with more development. The narrow, rural road network cannot take further development and is already overloaded. The roads are breaking up at the moment resulting in several very large potholes which are dangerous to all road users and damaging vehicles.

There are two football clubs, a rugby club and a fit box club in the area proposed to build these new houses. Local sport, leisure, and physical activity can help people to live longer, healthier lives. This makes them fundamental to achieving councils’ aspirations for their communities. In the current economic climate and the face of national challenges such as obesity and mental health, these sports clubs need to stay in the local area. Other fields can be allocated but some upheaval to the clubs and members will result in more traffic.

The proposed development of 350 houses will not blend both visually and physically, with the award-winning Village of Dickens Heath and spoil the street scene. The character and setting of the Village will be adversely affected and sense of community and identity compromised. There are strong, definable boundaries to the existing Village being the canal and the woodlands and ancient hedgerows.

The proposed development is not within a recognized walking distance from the Village Centre facilities, so further adds to the un-sustainability of the development. The Council state that a new footpath will be needed to the private road of Birchy Close to reduce the walking distance but this is legally unachievable. A suggested new bus route down Birchy Leasowes Lane (which has a 40MPH speed limit?) could be provided but a bus physically cannot exit the junctions with Dickens Heath Road and Tllehouse Lane safely. At Dickens Heath junction, the ancient woodland and settling ponds on either side of this junction would inhibit any road improvement which has very little vision splay back toward the Village. The junction at Tilehouse Raod is waiting for a serious accident with the vision splay towards the station very poor and the sharp bend towards Tilbury Green making it very difficult to exit.

The Sustainability Appraisal tries to prove that this Site is sustainable when it clearly is not, owing to the numerous mitigation measures proposed to try and make it sustainable, some of which are unachievable. Over 39% of the 15,000 homes proposed in Solihull is based in Dickens Heath and Cheswick Green. There has been no consideration for the upheaval these mitigation measures such as road closures will have on the residents who already have to deal with so much traffic due to the many new housing estates continually being built in the area.

I sincerely hope my above points are considered and this is not just a tick box exercise for the Council who I realize also have to find areas for housing to accommodate residents of Birmingham.