Feedback on local plan sites 8 and 9

I wish to object to the proposal in the Solihull Local Plan to build 1000 + houses on two sites in Knowle - site number 8 Hampton Road and 9 land to the South of Knowle known as the Arden Triangle.

I fully accept that there is a real need for new homes within the borough. However, Knowle would be increased by more than 20% if these plans went ahead - a highly disproportionate amount. Given that Knowle has no major commercial or industrial areas, it is effectively becoming a "Dormitory Village" - a place from which many people travel in order to work in a bigger town or city. The village infrastructure is already stretched, parking is woefully inadequate and the primary schools and doctors' surgeries are reaching saturation point. Both proposed developments would make significant inroads into the Green Belt at a time when the Government has issued a White Paper to the effect that Green Belt should be protected at all costs.

I live in Chantry Heath Crescent, in one of the houses that will be directly overlooked by any new houses built in Hampton Road so do have a vested interest in what happens there. Notwithstanding that, having read the Football Club's proposal for houses to fund a new club, I dispute the conclusion on page 28 which claims that 'the parcel sits well within the village development pattern' whereas in reality, as per the KDBH forum submission, 'Development here would be beyond the built-up area of Knowle and a significant encroachment into open countryside.

In the Benefits section on page 28 of the Football Club prospectus they refer to

* The provision of much needed housing in the area. I would reiterate that Knowle itself does not need housing on the scale provided. Very few occupants of the new houses would find work in Knowle, but would add to current congestion on the village roads and add to the parking problems around each of the local train stations.
* The potential for a borough sports hub. I question whether the facilities listed in the prospectus (other than the direct relocation of the football club) would ever materialise. On page 6 it states that 'further funding for a sports hub could also come forward with support from Sport England and the FA,' which of course may never happen.
* Provision of a community meeting place. We already have the Village Hall, Knowle Church Hall, Downing Hall and the Methodist Church Hall all situated in the very centre of Knowle.

There is a great contrast between the current state of the football and cricket clubs on the Hampton Road Site. The cricket club has been proactive in improving their clubhouse, providing a new electronic scoreboard and maintaining the whole ground well. The football club on the other hand is in a very sorry rundown state, with few attempts at improvement. In their own prospectus they state that 'planning permission has been granted for floodlighting at the existing site. This has been commenced but not completed due to issues with funding'. They could have already fundraised and/or applied for funding from the FA, and other sources, (on which they wiil rely to add extra facilities at any new site), but have failed to do so. Do we really want to entrust new green belt to a club which appears too lacklustre and incompetent to maintain and improve the smaller site it occupies now?


In my opinion, none of the constraints that caused Solihull MBC to reject the request for planning permission on the land opposite Grimshaw Hall in the 2012 SHLAA have changed. What has changed however, is that developers have dangled the carrot of a new football club (and other amenities which may never materialise) in front of us, in the hope that we will overlook how much green belt we will all be sacrificing for ever, in order that the 291players, volunteers and supporters of the football club will get an extra couple of pitches to play on.

With regards to the Arden Triangle site, I accept that if we must have more houses, then by all means include a new school or two as part of the deal, as this will benefit so many more people that the Football Club proposal. Please only grant permission for as few new houses as would be needed to fund the new school and ensure that as little new greenbelt as possible is taken
Knowle is a popular place to live precisely because it still has a village feel. How much expansion can it take before this is no longer the case?