I write as a local resident from B91 1QE which is in the neighbourhood of the above proposed housing allocation Site 18.
I am exasperated and feel harassed with the ongoing battle which it seems we residents must fight regularly in order to save this vestige of remaining open space.

Here are some reasons why the proposal is untenable.
* Perhaps the most important negative impact on the surrounding area may be the amount of traffic which already exists on the roads in the area during the morning and the afternoon school and business hours. It already is excessively high. So much so that there is frequently gridlock at the round-about (which flows more smoothly than the jam caused by the newish lights at the top of Danford Lane) where Sharmans Cross Road meets Prospect Lane , Danford Lane and Solihull Road. The same is also true at the top of Sharmans Cross Road attempting to access Streetsbrook Road, despite two outlets up there. This in turn causes severe queues which lead all the way back to Stratford Road - making the journey into Solihull itself from Shirley prolonged, stressful and polluted. Main arteries are severely delayed if not blocked in all these areas by a general increase in traffic over the last few years. On Friday 8th March 2019 traffic leading to Blossomfield Road was still trailing as far as 113 Danford Lane by 9;10am.
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* There are not enough amenities to cater for such an influx in the population in the area. Northbrook Doctors surgery has no appointments available at all for a month. That surgery will also be impacted by your development of additional flats at the Poppy round-about on the Stratford Road. This poses a direct threat to the health of the community.
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* Relating to the last point this traffic is already creating a large Health and Safety issue and any further increase to the area will result in further hindrance, frustration and anxiety amongst all who use it or live in the vicinity.
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* If there are no other natural open areas for young and old to frequent and you are removing all possibility of employing the field for its original purpose for sport by developing it. Where would you propose any sports clubs or recreation groups to go to? The 2013 all party policy on this Rugby Ground and maintaining the 'sports ground only covenant' and not selling the freehold should be retained because it is the will of this community and its people. Groups cannot play regular football, cricket or any other sports in nearby Prospect Park due to the roads, lack of facilities and also the numbers of people who enjoy using the park with their dogs - and rightly so. Rugby is a game which needs this site and the council should be promoting it.
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* The adjacent Sharmans Cross Juniour school is and will be oversubscribed. Funding for education is in difficulty and the school will need to be stretched beyond its means if the population here were to be increased further. In addition to this, an expansion of the school would eat into more of the greenery which its plot of land currently owns. Children see precious little of the countryside as it is. I know this as I work with children.
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* The local convenience shops on Prospect Lane do not have the capacity to serve the amount of people and cars which will need to use them if 67 - 100 more homes are built here. Parking is an issue. Drivers are already forced to park on kerb sides and often double park. The Sharmans Cross pub car park is used by shoppers and frequently full with their own clients, especially between 3pm and 5pm causing traffic to get caught up on Prospect Lane.
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* Pavements as well as roads on Sharmans Cross Road are perilously overcrowded at school closing times.
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* The rate of crime has risen in the area. This is a fact. Each shop on Prospect Lane was broken into, some twice, over the Christmas period 2018. How will you police this when Shirley Police Station has now gone and Solihull Police Station is under threat of closure. Neighbours in Danford Lane have reported more recent thefts from their back gardens. My car had valuable items stolen from it. When there is a rise in population and space, stress is created. Crime will rise further.
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* The Council should be promoting the use of green spaces dedicated to community activities such as this space was before the current owners Oakmore Ltd removed the sports facilities which existed there. The Arden Tennis Club is an asset to the area.
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* The Council should be making an effort to encourage the community to use this space to promote social interaction such as increasingly popular and carboot sales and fetes which are a great source of revenue etc thereby encouraging community cohesion and well-being in what is becoming an increasingly diverse community around Sharmans Cross.
* Site 18 is a different type of park that has natural beauty where people can really feel the moto 'Urbs in Rure' makes some sense. It is where owners can allow their pets off leash without fear of them being run over (unlike in Prospect Lane where roads run through the land.) The nearby woods are remains of the ancient Forest of Arden and should be retained for community use. They may become a place of danger if situated in an overcrowded area and then no doubt the council would seek to destroy them also. Currently they support a variety of wildlife, as do the surrounding hedgerows and are a place for respite.
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* As more permission is given to house owners in this area for expansion from 3 - 5 bedrooms, two houses to be joined up to make one and cars with four vehicles on their drives, the population here is already very high and becoming stressed and could become as some of the suburbs of London - socially disconnected.
* I recognise the need for further housing in England however the increasing area of greenbelt land which is being developed and all the development going on by the M42 junction, Dickens Heath and surrounds all need to have open space incorporated into their plans for the above reason - As the countryside which began at Whitefields Road is a distant memory, developing Site 18 simply detracts from such a vision for community needs.