Dear Sirs,

The local plan has major flaw- the new infrastructure and economic activity centres (UK central and HS2 hub) are in the north-east of the borough and the majority of the development is sited in the south of the borough. This means that the workforce for the new economic areas will be crossing the borough on a regular basis. There are no plans for new infrastructure to link the housing to the economic activity areas, the roads, in particular the M42 and the A4141 are already at capacity at peak periods. It would be better to site the housing near to the economic activity areas.

The housing development allocations in Knowle go far beyond what the current infrastructure can cope with. your stated objective is to retain the historic core of the village. With the increased traffic having no alternative but to cross the village through the High St, this will become constantly clogged with traffic, which will increase pollution and could lead to damage to fragile foundations of the historic buildings. If this plan is accepted the green belt will be lost, but as important a 20% increase in the number of homes in the area will destroy the nature of the area and the village of Knowle as we know it.

The vision states that the developments will be in Dorridge, Bentley Heath and Knowle. The plan shows only development in Knowle and the majority of traffic leaving the development with be going North to Solihull on the A4141 in Knowle.

The plan shows housing at a density which has recently been achieved in 2 new developments in Knowle. The experience of this density is that there are traffic problems, no suitable locations for recycling storage, little green space. One only has to look back but a few years to see that overcrowded developments become the substandard housing of the future. If due to lack of space people find it difficult to keep the area tidy (dustbins in the road etc, no where to store a bike, no where to keep equipment for maintaining the exterior) work will not be done and the area will become unpleasant for the majority.

We are not a London Borough where public transport links mean a car is not necessary. Current bike routes end at the most dangerous points, at junctions or roundabouts and it is therefore unrealistic to bank on the prospect of people managing in our areas without a car. Developments will need space for cars and people.

Your vision for expansion of the Town centre does not take into account the expectation that shopping in the high street will decline over the next 20 years. An extension to Touchwood is not needed, and if built, will further destroy the character of Solihull.

Yours faithfully