I should like to express my disappointment that Solihull Council is even considering giving planning permission for the building of new houses on the playing fields at Holly Lane and Frog Lane corner in Balsall Common. These playing fields are used by many groups within Balsall Common, not least the Sunday league football teams, the Scouts and the local Nursery, etc., as well as many people out for a walk or run, with and without dogs. There are few places where young people go for outdoor activities within Balsall Common. The obvious result of removing this facility would be kids roaming the streets and fouled pavements from dogs, to say nothing of an even greater obesity problem. Furthermore, Frog Lane is one of the few remaining, untouched rural lanes in existence anywhere in the country, without Solihull planning to ruin it. Why, indeed are all of your proposed sites within the green belt? Surely there are brownfield sites within the Borough.

It is bad enough that Solihull is even considering expanding Balsall Common to such a degree (more than 25% of the proposed new houses for Solihull), without ruining the remaining facilities. Have we not had enough expansion over the past 20 years? Did you not even consider the feedback you received recently. Mind you, even that was a farce, with the questions being loaded on an assumption of the expansion being a given. I can only assume that Balsall Common is one of the furthest points from the centre of Solihull, yet still within the Borough boundary and so is considered to be the dumping ground for the Council. Oh, of course it is!

I should like you to consider this as an official complaint and a request to reconsider using Balsall Common as a dumping ground without even due consideration for maintaining the existing facilities. We don't vote Councillors in or provide jobs, through our rates, for those people to act against our interests.