I am writing to register my opposition to the proposed development of 100 houses in Sharman's Cross Road. I do not believe that this will have any positive effects on the local area but indeed will provide have a detrimental impact upon both myself and my family. I live at 18 Sharman's Cross Road which is directly opposite the development. At present we currently suffer from the effects of the headlights of cars and vans exiting from the tennis club and gym early in the morning and from early until late evening and this will be dramatically increased with the volume of cars that will be attached to 100 family dwellings.

The following are the types of issue that we currently experience regarding traffic and cars on Sharman's Cross Road:-

* From 7.30am until 9am in the morning the traffic into Solihull is solid from Streetsbrook Road backwards for a distance of approximately half a mile. This currently causes us difficulty in reversing off our drive into the main road
* We have multiple cars driving into our drive and reversing back as the drivers become bored or late. These actions usually occur in a rushed and unsafe manner. My son and my wife have been close to being hit by the cars on a number of occasions over the past ten years and we have seen pedestrians come close to collision.
* Riding a bike is a safety lottery on Sharman's Cross Road

On the basis of our own and public safety we would push back severely on a dramatic uplift in the number of cars adding to the already overcrowded road.

Since moving to the area we have had severe difficulty regards flooding due to a high water table and arguably not helped by the ever increasing home improvements in the guise of extensions, patio's and drive upgrades. In 2006/2007 our 300foot back garden was under water from the back of our building to the very end of the garden, sometimes up to two feet deep. Due to constant rain this lasted from May to September. As a temporary measure we had to employ a number of cold water pumps to get water to the drains on the main road and used large numbers of sandbags as a barrier. As a result we spent over £10,000 having French drains and a sump installed and despite this investment still suffer albeit a level less than previously.

In addition due to water regularly flooding under the joists of our house to a level of three feet we suffered constant electrical problems and the development of dry rot in our floorboards leading to a number of insurance claims as well as huge stress and health and safety issues. During recent renovations we decided to concrete the whole of the ground floor of the house at a cost of £15,000.

Any large scale building project close to our home would decrease the opportunity for floodwater to filter away and dramatically increase the chances of flooding in the vicinity. The resultant stress and disruption would be very damaging to my family and also any other residents that have suffered similar issues.

Myself and my son are keen followers and in his case a player of sport. The lack of support for sport and its facilities from Solihull Council is well documented. There is a fantastic case for the playing fields in Sharman's Cross Road to be reinvigorated by it being used for sport for people of all ages. I understand that the site in question is one of five sports sites currently being considered for LDP. SMBC has a statutory right to ensure that one or all of these developments should be replaced with equivalent sports facilities. I for one are sceptical that this will happen.

Sport England already rates Solihull on a very low end of the scale for over 16 participation and therefore sports should be encouraged in the borough not be made extinct by building on every available sports pitch.

We walk our dogs on the pitches across the road where the new development is planned. The land is beautiful, adorned by lovely trees and foliage. In addition there is a wide range of wildlife that lives within its confines. To disrupt this space would be an environmental mistake. The tennis club has a number of mature trees which if meddled with would be a very sad state of affairs.

It already very hard to get:-

* A doctor's appointment
* A school place close to home
* A place at the premier sixth form college

The addition of a hundred additional dwellings and also the other residential additions around the borough will make all of the above even harder to obtain.

Overall there is already too few facilities, schools and medical centres with proven under capacity, why exacerbate that with the addition of hundreds over extra people using already stretched resources.

In summary I strongly object to the development In Sharman's Cross Road and would ask that all of the above points are taken into consideration when making your planning decisions. The council its officers and employees exist to support the needs of the residents of Solihull. I believe that they would be letting down these people by approving this development.