Objection to the development of allocation 13 ( Shirley South ) without Prejudice

I'm writing to you to with a formal objection to the Solihull draft plan

The facts are that Solihull is a reasonable large Borough but 41% of the total housing proposal is earmarked for Shirley this is out of proportion and the allocations should be more evenly spread across the borough to befit all and the inevitable strain on already overloaded infrastructure more evenly distributed.
The large allocation in Shirley South does not benefit HS2 either as it's all located the opposite side of Solihull meaning the A34, A41 or M42 must be used to access this high speed rail link station.
The Federation of master builders study finds that smaller developments of around 100 houses are ensure variety and diversity

I also see no robust investigation of brownfield sites, other counsels across the UK have made much better use of these and should be considered as best practice.

Green belt
The Loss of Green space and amenity areas which has a direct impact on the welfare of people

I quote "Celebrating what is special about Solihull "
(Solihull council Green belt Strategy review 2014)

The housing minister Gavin Barwell has also gone a record
" building on Green belt is not the way to solve the shortage of homes "
(Evening standard 5th Feb 2017)


Road access & Infrastructure

Bills lane is narrow and constrained by houses on both sides with traffic calming already in place
which means Solihull council already recognise the road has safety issues with a 7.5T weigh limit.
The traffic pinch point at Burman road / Shakespeare drive junctions with constant ques at peak times
Tamworth lane is also grid lock now from early morning again with not many options to widen or improve traffic flow as this also constrained on both sides by houses and also has traffic calming
The plan has no details of what Infrastructure improvements if any would be made to address this very real issue. The comment of "details will be given at the next stage" is unsatisfactory
If as private residents were seeking planning for an extension we would not be permitted to supply half the information and expect planning to be granted


Parking at Train stations
Shirley and Whitlocks End stations are already beyond current capacity
Parking restrictions have already being put in place by Solihull council on surrounding side roads at Shirley due parking issues.

Increased Flooding

Seven Trent installed a large new storm water pump station in Neville road a few years to mitigate flooding risk
This will have a standard 10% flex the development proposal will be way above this allowance
A Flood Risk Analysis study should be conducted and results should be published
SFRA December 2014 P16 Sec 2.3.2 - LPA to ensue new developments do not increase the flood risk elsewhere

I feel the plan needs to be completed re done to allocate small sites across the whole borough, studying the call for sites there are plenty of options that have been ignored this may no suit the developers who what to "stack em high and sell em cheap ( ish ) "

I don't believe anybody underestimates the problem of housing but the counsel have duty to ensure we don't look back in years to come and regret the decisions that were made ( 1960's high rise flats )

We have been asked to suggest possible alternatives but for me it's the counsels role to find a fair solution that takes in the view of the people who voted them into office and pay Counsel tax

On that note one suggestion which has been discussed locally is to relocate Lighthall School to Dog kennel lane and then develop the old school site for housing.
On the face of it this looks sensible as it would allow easier access for the school runs as it lins directly to the A34 and take the congestion away from Hathaway Rd / Shakespeare drive