Alternative Site Suggested (Call for Sites)

see attached letter

see detailed response to policies and 4 supporting documents supporting proposed sites

see detailed response to policies and 4 supporting documents supporting proposed sites

see detailed response to policies and 4 supporting documents supporting proposed sites

see attached letter and appendices - Area G SHELAA site 128

I am responding to the Council's Draft Local Plan with specific reference to Housing :-

"Do you believe we are planning to build homes in the right locations? If not why not, and which locations do you believe shouldn't be included? Are there any other locations that you think should be included?"

I wish to object to the development of ALL Greenbelt land where there are alternative PDL sites available; especially those in Balsall Common known as Barratt's Farm and Windmill Lane. The latter is an historical site in which no development should be allowed to encroach into and ruin.
The reasons for my objection are below.

The proposed allocation of 3 greenfield sites in Balsall Common, when there are 14 PDL (Previously Developed Land) sites available, would strongly suggest that due consideration has not been given to these sites. As such, the "very special circumstances" to justify inappropriate development in the greenbelt have NOT been demonstrated. If Balsall Common must be subjected to yet more development, it seems ridiculous that greenbelt can be released when there are so many other brownfield sites available.

Balsall Common fails to meet the Council's own specified criteria for high frequency public transport and therefore is not a settlement with good accessibility. As such, the allocation of circa 20% of new housing in the Borough to Balsall Common, is in breach of SMBC's policy that "all new development should be focused in the most accessible locations".

Buses to and from the village are infrequent (1 an hour) and there is such heavy demand for the train service from Berkswell station that trains are often full to capacity. The inadequate parking at the train station results in neighbouring roads being used as car parks for the full day and over night having a negative impact on movement around the edge of the village.

Within Balsall Common itself and its surrounding hamlets is often grid locked, particularly at rush hours and school run times or when a nearby major road has issues and traffic diverts through the village. Parking in the village and surrounding area of Berkswell is extremely limited and it is difficult to actually get to the amenities due to volume of traffic.

The local primary schools are already oversubscribed and bursting at their seams. As a result, the quality of education and care that the children are receiving is diminishing. Traffic around the schools is a huge danger to the young children.

These sites are all considerable distance from the schools and amenities, and there would undoubtedly be a huge increase in volume of traffic as it would be considered too far to walk.
Balsall Common is a settlement with limited employment opportunities and therefore most people have to commute to work by car.

Windmill Lane and Meeting House Lane will become even more of a "rat run". The volume of traffic already using Windmill Lane and Meeting House Lane as a cut through is high and the speed of this traffic is also already dangerous.

These sites scores poorly in relation to all accessibility criteria, as defined by SMBC, apart from the Primary School. As such most journeys to the shops, medical centre and railway station will have to be by car, adding to the existing congestion and parking difficulties

The phasing of all 3 proposed allocations for development to take place in years 1 - 5, at the same time as HS2 and the site at Riddings Hill, will place intolerable strain on the settlement. There will be insufficient time to effectively plan for and deliver the necessary improvements to both infrastructure and facilities, which are already overstretched. In particular, the current Primary School provision is wholly inadequate. This directly contravenes SMBC's stated intent to "manage the growth."

In light of the above, I would support the recommendations from BARRAGE that:

1) A re-assessment is made of the appropriateness of significantly expanding Balsall Common, given its poor accessibility using public transport

2) If there is justification for significantly expanding Balsall Common, then an holistic view is taken as to where housing is best located, with due consideration to be given to the re-use of PDL sites in preference to "greenfield" as well as congestion hot spots

3) The phasing of any development must recognise the impact and disruption of HS2

4) The necessary infrastructure to support any significant expansion must be identified and planned for alongside any development

5) SMBC consults on ALL PDL SITES, which fall within or are adjacent to Balsall Common, with a view to potential allocation with immediate effect to ensure the community is fully engaged

6) These sites removed from the Draft Local Plan as it is not compliant with both National and Borough planning policies and, as such, is not sustainable.

see attached

Please find attached our response on behalf of Mark Horgan to the Draft Local Plan Review consultation. We have also attached our Scope, Issues and Options (January 2016) submission for your reference.

Please see attached the following submission to the Solihull Draft Local Plan Review Consultation.

We have produced the following documents to form part of our submission:

* Covering Letter
* National Motorcycle Museum Site Location Plan
* The Hub drawing

see response and supporting documents

see attached response and supporting documents

submission by agent on behalf Federated Scrap and proposal land at Jacobean Lane Copt Heath

Please find attached letters prepared on behalf of the Trustees of the Berkswell Estate in respect
1) land at New Mercote Farm, Balsall Common.
and 2) land at Coventry Road, Berkswell.

Please find attached letters prepared on behalf of the Trustees of the Berkswell Estate in respect
1) land at New Mercote Farm, Balsall Common.
and 2) land at Coventry Road, Berkswell.

Representations on behalf of Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham

GVA is instructed to submit representations to the Local Plan Review 'Draft Local Plan' consultation process.
Please therefore find attached a Representations document (which includes appendices), that provides our client's comments on the Draft Local Plan.

GL Hearn acts on behalf of Severn Trent Water (STW) and is instructed to submit representations to the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Draft Local Plan Review Consultation in respect of its landholding at Illshaw Heath.
These representations follow previous representation to the Scope, Issues and Options Consultation in January 2016.

As we set out within our latest reps, it is unclear whether our Jan 2106 reps have been considered in the preparation of this Reg 18 stage of the Local Plan Review. For the avoidance of doubt therefore we also attached a copy of our previous representation alongside this submission.
Our Jan 2016 representation includes a plan with the STW site shown edged red.

I trust that these representations will be taken into full consideration in the preparation of the next stage of the Local Plan Review

additional text and map submitted to support online Reps

Dear Councillors,

With respect to the Berkswell Village Farm proposals I trust you've considered;
Ancient hedge rows, is this an issue the CPRE should be consulted on ?
The three mature trees. Do I recall this area has lost a number of big trees in the last decades or so ?
Drainage.
Flora.
Wildlife.
The field is particularly import to birds, more so than the adjacent fields which are dryer.
It is wetter than the surrounding fields and appears to host a rich abundance of micro fauna.
This particularly noticeable in the winter. Blackbirds and Thrushes.
Whilst on the subject of fauna, the old "Great Crested Newt issue" would be a cliché but, are they there or not ?

Would you be content to just redevelop the farmhouse buildings and build the small row of affordable houses.
Why not plant it out with trees, those few around the west end of the field are already very mature and won't last forever.
Create a glade, a copse with a path through it. Dedicate it as a public space. A graded footpath path would connect the new residents with the village from the west side rather than having to navigate the crossroads where there's no footpath on the west side.

see attached letter

REPRESENTATIONS ON BEHALF OF NURTON DEVELOPMENTS
Nurton Developments does not agree with the spatial strategy and considers that Hockley Heath should be included as a location for growth for reasons set out below.
Paragraph 83 of the draft Local Plan sets out a vision for rural areas that, by 2028, the network of strong and vibrant communities will have been sustained with a range of local facilities and services that are readily accessible on foot and by bicycle and that are appropriate to the scale and hierarchy of the settlement. It envisages that sustainable extensions to those settlements that are highly accessible or have a wide range of services will provide for the Borough's housing needs. Therefore it is within the vision of the Draft Local Plan to locate additional housing adjacent to sustainable rural settlements in order to sustain strong and vibrant communities.
The Draft Local Plan spatial strategy includes in the hierarchy at paragraph 101 'development that would be a proportionate addition adjacent to an existing settlement that although is less accessible still has a limited range of services available within it (including a primary school)'. Therefore the spatial strategy clearly envisages locating additional housing adjacent to settlements with a range of services, including a primary school.
The Draft Local Plan Housing Topic Paper (December 2016) sets out reasoning behind the chosen spatial strategy. In relation to Hockley Heath it concludes that 'the poor accessibility of this settlement and the restricted opportunities [for development] mean that it is not suitable for growth'. This is considered to be an inadequate assessment which all-too-readily dismisses Hockley Heath. The village is a sustainable location for growth and the local village services and continued vitality of the community are reliant upon the growth of the village.
Hockley Heath is a compact village where local facilities are easily accessed by foot. The village has a primary school and other local facilities include pubs, restaurants, a café, take-away establishments, a convenience shop, butchers, post office, dentist, a physiotherapy clinic, hairdressers, various other retail shops and a community hall. This good range of local facilities supports the vibrancy of the community and village life.
Hockley Heath is served by two bus routes. The S3 links Acocks Green to Hockley Heath via Solihull, Knowle and Dorridge. This service runs every half an hour in each direction Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday and in the evenings. This connects to the medical centre and railway station in Dorridge and the secondary school in Knowle. There are also school bus services from Hockley Heath to Tudor Grange Academy (the catchment secondary school) and Alcester secondary schools. The X20 runs from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon via Hockley Heath. The service runs hourly in each direction Monday to Saturday and every 90 minutes on Sundays.
In view of the local facilities available at Hockley Heath and the range of bus services to higher order settlements, it is unjustified to conclude that the settlement has poor accessibility.
The National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 55) states that, to promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. This appears to be recognised by the Draft Local Plan vision and spatial strategy, but the actual location of housing allocations falls short of achieving this objective at Hockley Heath. It is important that the village population is sustained by a mix of housing so as to sustain a strong and vibrant community and retain local facilities and services.
Between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses Hockley Heath grew by 80 households. This equates to 11% growth over a 10 year period. The Draft Local plan now considers a subsequent 17 year period. It is considered that allowance should be made for modest and proportionate growth to Hockley Heath in order to support the village as a strong and vibrant community and to provide for a mix of housing to meet local needs.
The objectively assessed housing need to be addressed in the Draft Local Plan provides the exceptional circumstances to review the Green Belt boundary to Hockley Heath. Without such a review the village is constrained and has very limited potential to meet needs for housing. The emerging Hockley Heath Neighbourhood Plan is also restricted in addressing the growth needs of the village without alteration to the Green Belt boundary.
 

The proposed 1350 houses is not acceptable. I have been a resident in Balsall common for 50 years and been involved with Planning. in Solhull since 1973 and have absolutely no faith in the planning to be able to deal with this or even their ability to read the plans. It is our misfortune to have a railway station in Balsall Common so there is virtually no hope of Appeals because government policy will enforce up to three storey development within walking distance of a station.

There is no infrastructure to support intense development.

There is 100 acres of brown belt land at Lincoln Farm screened from kenilworth road. Ideal for starter homes which are desperatley needed. Most development in Balsall Common has been 4 and 5 bed homes. Government views on support of greenelt are under review.

Parking in the village is a problem. Did I read that Ove Arup international engineers had been appointed for this work ? I could do job in two hours on the back of an envelope. but I could not build Sydney opera House.!

Baratt Lane development will be affected.by
HS2 which is politically motivated madness.
d architect
The national housing scarcity could be solved if town cetres used the mostly empty floor space above retail shops.
For many years developers have resisted using this space because they do not want residential tennants.
Access to all these floors would need separate stair access and fire escape provision.

see attached letter

see letter

see letter

see letter

additional letter submission

see letter

see letter

see letter

see letter