Policy P1A Blythe Valley Business Park

Support

Representation ID: 11139

Received: 12/12/2020

Respondent: Natural England

(p.42) NE support the requirement to protect and enhance natural environment.

Object

Representation ID: 13981

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: Transport for the West Midlands

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Yes

- Solihull faces significant challenges for planning for future homes and jobs across the borough, and whilst TfWM considers that the ideal location for new development is concentrated in areas already well served by public transport, such as high-volume corridors (as emphasised in TfWM’s 10 year Delivery Plan), we appreciate that other sites will also need to be considered.
- For such sites located in the green belt, sustainable transport should play a major role – with the plan demonstrating good accessibility measures and sustainable transport infrastructure in place. This is especially important for employment sites such as Birmingham Business Park, Blythe Valley Business Park and Damson Parkway, where currently these sites do not reflect sustainable commuting patterns.

Object

Representation ID: 14202

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: IM Properties - Employment Land

Agent: Turley

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Yes

IM are pleased to see that the Plan continues to provide policy support for the ongoing development of Blythe Valley. In particular, Policy P1A and its supporting text outline what is expected of future development

In relation to the existing BVP site:
• Policy should provide maximum flexibility to reflect market demand. The broad range of the types of uses that could be brought forward in the policy should not seen as an exhaustive list. It should be made clear within the policy wording that a wide range of employment activities will be supported including offices, industrial and warehousing, but also including research and development and other ‘non-traditional’ employment uses.
• The residential part of the site is now subject to reserved matters approvals. It may therefore be appropriate to remove reference to “the residential element of Blythe Valley Park” from this policy
• Reference is made at Paragraph 110 to “an area of land of some 7 ha remaining to be developed”. This figure is incorrect, and should instead read 3 hectares. Amendments should be made to the Plan in this regard to ensure that it is sound, and any references within the Council’s evidence base updated accordingly. IM are already formulating plans to develop out the remaining land at BVP during 2021, at which point there will be no developable employment land along the A34 corridor
• Paragraphs 111 and 112 of the supporting text make reference to various expectations that the Council have of any development at BVP. Given the extent of development that has now been brought forward, we consider that this supporting text should be updated to better reflect the current position with the site

Object

Representation ID: 14203

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: IM Properties - Employment Land

Agent: Turley

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Yes

As has been set out in previous representations to the Plan, IM also control an area of land to the east of the M42.
This land is bound by the BVP estate road to the south, the A3400 to the east, and the M42 to the west

Whilst the site lies within the Green Belt, it is considered to be in a suitable location for further employment uses due to proximity to the motorway network and the cluster of high quality employment uses that have developed in this location, based at both BVP and Fore Business Park
Whilst the site was not specifically considered within the PBA Employment Land Review report in 2017, it has many of the same characteristics as the wider BVP site. It therefore has strong potential to form part of the wider BVP scheme.

The 2020 SHELAA assessed the site and confirms that there would be ‘good’ demand attractiveness to occupiers. Analysis of the HEDNA shows there is a greater need for employment sites within the Borough than have currently been identified. It is therefore respectfully requested that further consideration is given to the potential of this site to meet this need.

Object

Representation ID: 14312

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: Councillor Max McLoughlin

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Policy P1A Criteria 3 is not enforceable as the level of competition, and the geographical extent are not defined. Grammatical issues with the meaning of “particularly designate town centres as appropriate”.

Policy P1A Criteria 4 – for Blythe Valley Business Park to become viable it would need to allow for bus routes to travel through. Development should not be permitted to threaten the Site of Special Scientific Interest directly or indirectly.

Support

Representation ID: 14613

Received: 04/12/2020

Respondent: Mrs Diane Booth

Supports Policy P1A but seeks modifications