Object
Solihull Local Plan (Draft Submission) 2020
Representation ID: 14764
Received: 09/12/2020
Respondent: St Philips Land - Land at Smiths Lane Browns Lane & Widney Manor Road
Agent: Savills
Legally compliant? Yes
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Yes
Exceeding minimum building regulation standards is optional and should be justified by evidence.
Requiring all new dwellings to be built to the Category M4(2) standards, will result in larger dwellings and in turn less dwellings being delivered on sites, and inefficient use of land on the Green Belt sites proposed
In terms of flexible application of the policy, none of the criteria in point 5 make reference to the suitability of a site to accommodate accessible dwellings, for example their topography or local demographic.
No justification why 300+ dwellings is threshold for care bedspace provision. No consideration of whether sites may be suitable for such provision or whether providers will be interested.
The requirement for all dwellings to be built to Category M4(2) standards should be removed and any proposed requirement should be based on an appropriate assessment of need (including a review of the existing housing stock).
The criteria listed under Point 5 of Policy P4E should be amended to state “Site specific factors which may make step-free access unsuitable or unviable”. For example not every site identified is flat and able to accommodate level access in a uniform matter.
The requirement for 300+ dwellings to deliver specialist housing or care bedspaces should be removed from this policy and specific sites for specialist and senior living should be allocated to deliver this specialist provision. This will ensure that the requirements of Point 6 are met.
See attached documents