Please find below my feedback on the Solihull MBC Local Plan Consultation.
Comments on Site 1 - Barrett's Farm Development

I would like to emphasise the importance of considering appropriate access and the careful management of speed, traffic and parking problems on Balsall Common roads before any further development in and around the village proceeds, particularly at Barrett's Farm.

Since I moved to Balsall Common three years ago, I have been shocked and worried by the significant increases in the volume, acceleration and speed of traffic on Meeting House Lane and Station Road.

The so-called traffic calming measures on my road are completely useless, especially from Blessed Robert Grissold to the shop end of Meeting House Lane. The speed bumps are almost completely flat (please see attached photographs) and do nothing to slow the speed of cars racing to and from the village centre or using my road as a 'rat run' through Balsall Common. In fact, traffic accelerates on this part of the road, I think because drivers seem to want to drive as fast as they can going into or coming out of the slalom, where they know they will be forced to slow down for a short period.

In the last two years, two of my cats have been hit by cars and killed on Meeting House Lane and Station Road. This has been incredibly upsetting and quite a shocking statistic when you consider that I have had many cats as part of my family for 33 years in various locations around the country (including on a road off the A38 leading into Bristol city centre) and never experienced any of them being involved in accidents until I moved to Balsall Common. I am so concerned about the safety of animals on my road that I have felt compelled to ask my parents to look after my remaining cat at their house in another part of the West Midlands.

This may not be considered a big issue to people who are not animal lovers but I can assure you that it is a great source of distress to me and others in Balsall Common who care about animals. I would hope, however, that everyone in Balsall Common and at SMBC will care about the safety of the many Balsall parish runners, dog walkers, children walking to and from school, and various others that use Meeting House Lane to walk down every day, often in the middle of the road because of the lack of any/proper pavements in many places on the road.

Recently, I was driving very slowly down my road and still had to swerve to avoid runners using one side of the road and a parent with a child in a pushchair on the other side of the road (where there are no pavements). This sort of incident is a frequent occurrence. If I was one of the people that use my road to speed down as a cut through, I think that there could easily have been an accident. I am saddened that my elderly neighbour is afraid to walk down our road to go and see her friend because of this problem with traffic and lack of proper pavements/traffic calming.

The point that I am making is that the current speed and volume of traffic is untenable and we need SMBC to do something about it before considering any further developments in Balsall Common, including development at Barrett's Farm. It would be irresponsible and dangerous to do anything else.

My strong recommendation and plea is that SMBC considers the following:
* Blocking off Meeting House Lane to vehicular traffic, either at the village end (where the new shared space is proposed to start) or after the Catholic Church so that, in effect, it becomes two cul-de-sacs for vehicles. If the latter option was taken, one end of the road could be used for access to the tennis club and the other for the church, making it a fair distribution of traffic. This would prevent people inside and outside of the village using it as a rat run. I have been quite frustrated to learn from two colleagues at work who do not live in Balsall Common that their live satellite navigation software directs them to come down Meeting House Lane when driving in/through the village (e.g. from the motorway to the University of Warwick, and when driving from the University of Warwick to the Indian restaurant on the Kenilworth Road).
* Making the speed limit on Meeting House Lane and Station Road 20 miles per hour and installing proper traffic calming measures (e.g. more aggressive speed bumps, more slaloms, one way traffic etc).
Comments on infrastucture required to support additional housing in Balsall Common
I definitely support redeveloping the village centre but I would ask that the measures proposed above (regarding speeding on Station Road and Meeting House Lane) are implemented first so that more and more people don't use Meeting House Lane as a short cut to the village centre or to park on during any disruption when the redevelopment is happening. I would also support a bypass being created and routed to the Barrett's Farm development, should this go ahead.

I currently experience significant problems with village shoppers parking on the double yellow lines near my house, on the single yellow lines during restricted periods, on the pavement and across my drive. This means that I would certainly welcome improved parking in the village but I would also implore Balsall Parish Council and SMBC to put up signage for the existing car park behind Tesco. Visitors and newcomers to the village often do not know the car park is there. I would also ask that SMBC sends parking enforcement officers to Balsall Common on a regular basis to encourage drivers to start parking legally, safely and considerately when accessing the village centre.

I definitely support the creation of a bypass to help deal with the significant problem of commuters from outside of Balsall Common using the village as a short cut instead of local A roads and motorways.

I would also like to see an additional school being provided. I would make a suggestion that this could be a Catholic primary school given that there is a thriving Catholic community in Balsall Common with the parish church very close to the proposed Barrett's Farm development, the nearest Catholic primary school in the Solihull MBC area is over three miles away and the Council cut the bus service provided to this school.

There definitely needs to be a more regular and later running bus service in Balsall Common. I would also like to see more regular and later running train services and a larger car park at the train station. The station and roads near the station cannot cope with existing demand for parking, let alone if there are over 1000 more homes in the area.

I am keen to see many more signposted public footpaths and walking routes, as well as cycle paths and more pedestrian crossings. I would like to see the Kenilworth Greenway extended and access improved so that people in the village can more easily and more safely cycle to areas like Kenilworth, Berkswell, the University of Warwick, Knowle, Barston etc. It's very sad that it's not very easy to access the greenway in certain parts (e.g. having to haul a bike over a stile). I'm also keen to see safer pedestrian routes in and around the village to encourage more people to walk to the village centre.

Comments on the selection of sites in the green belt
I support a boundary for village development and protection of the green belt. I would like to see this policy strengthened to emphasise a commitment to always using brownfield sites or previously developed green belt sites when these are available in the area. The policies of a Conservative council should reflect the commitments of the West Midlands Mayor and the Government to protect the green belt.

Comments on the overall amount of housing being proposed for Balsall Common
I am still dismayed by the fact that the village of Balsall Common is one of few areas - and one of even fewer small communities - being expected to shoulder the brunt of the burden of additional housing in Solihull, and that the number has increased despite many residents objecting to the previous level of housing proposed in previous consultations. Surely there should be a more even distribution across the borough and all areas should be expected to take a reasonable share of additional housing, taking into account their current size and character and the impact that development will have? I think it is very sad that a village in a beautiful area is being turned into a town when there are other areas of the borough unaffected, and when we are already having to deal with HS2.

Comments on the timing of development and HS2
I would implore SMBC to ensure that large scale housing developments do not begin until after HS2 is completed. To do anything else would be to destroy Balsall Common and make the lives of people living here a misery for years.

Comments on the type and style of development
It is vital to retain the rural feel and character of Balsall Common if it is to remain a desirable place to live. That's the reason that many people like me choose to live here.

It's vital that natural habitats, wildlife and biodiversity are protected to highest level possible and that developers are forced to take their responsibilities in this seriously. The nature in and around Balsall Common is one of the village's most attractive qualities and I often enjoy walking the public footpaths in and around Barrett's Farm - it's important that natural features of any development site are retained and protected.

Developments should definitely be small in size overall and within small clusters of housing that are not identical. We don't want Balsall Common to look like a mini version of Milton Keynes or for developments to create a suburban sprawl.