Policy BL2 - South of Dog Kennel Lane

REDUCING HOUSING QUOTA
RETAIN THE NATURAL BOUNDARY TO PRESERVE GREEN BELT AT DOG KENNEL LANE
ADDRESS INCREASE IN TRANSPORT ,
ADDRESS IMPACT ON EDUCATION RESOURCES
ADDRESS IMPACT ON ACCESSIBLITY AND PRESSURE FOR GP AND HOSPITAL HEALTH APPOINTMENTS
ADDRESS IMPACT ON LACK OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
ADDRESS IMPACT ON FLOODING ISSUES THAT ARE ALREADY A LOCAL ISSUES DO TO DISPROPORTIONATE INCREASE IN DWELLINGS IN THIS LOCL AREA

2015-CHESWICK GREEN HAD 1000 HOUSES, NOW - 2000.INCREASING TO 3000 WITH BLYTHE VALLEY. NEW PLAN INCREASES IT TO 4000+. DISPROPORTIONATE INCREASE TO THE REST OF THE BOROUGH. EXTRA STRAIN ON NHS, IMPACTING ON AVAILABILITY OF HOSPITAL AND DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS. FLOODING ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED.THERE WILL BE AN IMPACT ON INCREASED ROAD USEAGE AND LOCAL EMPLOYMENT.GREEN BELT SHOULD BE DEFINED BY **EXISTING** BOUNDARIES. THIS PLAN CREATES A *NEW* ROAD WHICH IS NOT IN THE SPIRIT OF NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY.DOG KENNEL LANE IS THE BOUNDRY. IF THAT IS LOST IT IS LIKELY THAT VERY LITTLE GREEN SPACE WILL REMAIN.

Not to build on BL2 but to keep it as a Buffer to Dickens Heath and protect the listed building without an eyesore of new buildings around it. This needs to remain in its original surroundings

The proposed site (BL2) was meant to provide a buffer between Shirley and Dickens Heath. This area was a designated Green Belt site. There is also a Listed building within site BL2. Adding 1000 houses around this site will detract from the listed building and spoil the heritage and value of this site.

Shirley has had more than its fair share of new housing and in fact the number of retirement homes and care homes has been excessive!! The areas where Shirley aquatics, TRW, Morrison's, Shirley police station, sans souci, porcelenass and Powergen sites all now have housing for retirement or indeed care homes???

The area is already struggling to capacity with schools and doctors surgeries unable to cope with the huge influx as this land is grabbed as an easy target instead of respecting the established Green belt and in considering the current capacities within our community.

There are plenty of brown field sites where areas and housing can be redeveloped. I would suggest holding off as with the current climate and many businesses closing and employees working from home, the current unfortunate pandemic may yield more brown sites that can be redeveloped into housing instead of spoiling our greenbelt areas even further.

The area where TRW is and the industrial area is already being developed and this should be the edge and limit of development with the field of BL2 remaining a green belt area and providing a buffer to Dickens Heath. I urge you to protect this site and especially so given that there is a listed building on this particular site.

GP surgeries are already under increasing pressure in Shirley and it is very hard to get an appointment for the residents who already live here. If 1000 homes are built here, i think it is necessary to incorporate a new GP surgery into the plans. This is not just because of these 1000 homes at BL2 but also because of the significant development already occurring on site 11.

Improved road infrastructure on Dog Kennel Lane to reduce traffic issues. Potentially by building more roads so not all residents of bl2 are forced into using Dog Kennel Lane for access.

A development of this size needs to contain significant numbers of affordable housing. The properties for sale on the opposite site 11 are far from affordable. At least 50% of all housing built on site bl2 should be truly affordable. Ie. Social housing, part buy part rent. £350k for a three bed home is not affordable for the vast majority of young people seeking to stay in the borough. The future of the borough is dependent on its young people and if we are all forced to move out due to house prices/unaffordable rent, Solihull will suffer in the long run. Young people who have grown up here are invested in the area and want to stay near to their support networks.

The plan for bl2 does not factor in the current pressures on health services in the area. A Gp surgery should be included in the plan.

Road infrastructure on dog kennel lane is already insufficient for the volume of traffic at peak times. The increase in traffic due to plot bl2 must be considered and the road infrastructure significantly improved.

Lack of affordable housing in the borough.

Improve areas there homes need bringing into the 21 st century, proper homes in areas where people can get to shops.
Use old industrial parts of Solihull.
If building has to go on this site reduce the amount of homes and don't do a Dickens Heath.

I live in Cheswick Green a village in the country, I do not want to see houses totally surrounding me. We have had Cheswick Place added to our surrounding's and this alone has added to traffic congestion, no space at the village surgery and horrendous traffic with parents NOT WALKING but blocking the school approach.
Flooding has always been an issue and more houses would cause increase this problem.
This is GREEN BELT, I grow up in Solihull and i was taught to respect and appreciate the open fields, this would ride roughshod over our children's future countryside.

Retain the well established, well defined and recognisable physical boundaries of Dog Kennel Lane and Creynolds Lane and Tamworth lane, between the village and the built up areas of Deakens Heath and Shirley.

Maintain and support keeping of the greenbelt lands between Cheswick and Shirley.

1000 homes will out grow the rest of the area and impact on the environment and the topography of the area.

Cheswick Green is a unique location with historical ties and developed during the last 50 years into a distinct area. Sitting within already existing and well defined and recognisable physical boundaries such as Dog Kennel Lane and Tamworth lane it does not require any of its boundaries redefined. Cheswick Green cannot cope with more developments, 1000 homes will change the character and topography of the area, more problems with traffic, transport and access to already over burden local services.
The impact on the environment and there is extreme concern (as already witnessed) that there is potential of good likelihood of further extensive development and total loss of green belt.

More detail is required regarding Taylor Wimpy's proposed development around the listed Light Hall Farm (site BL2) to ensure that the setting of this historic building and site has been given appropriate consideration.

The plan should be cancelled for the above reasons. The current doctors surgeries cannot cope. Services at Solihull Hospital have been reduced. Shirley Police Station has been knocked down. Solihull Police Station is closing. There are not enough school places.

Houses built here will not be affordable. There is not enough infrastructure to support the people proposed to live there. There are plenty of empty homes in inner city areas. This plan is clearly to make housing developers rich at the expense of the current residents.

BL2 should be removed from the local plan. A school can be built on the Blythe Valley development - its brownfield. There is room also for more housing there as well as in Hockley Heath

Dog Kennel Lane provides a permanent boundary to green belt land & by removing this it would seriously impact on the future of Cheswick Green due to extensive development. Very little green space would remain. There would be no need to “enhance the green belt” its already there! Home to many species of wildlife as well as ancient hedgerows and trees - once lost it cannot be replaced.

1. Cheswick Green cannot cope with any more developments - a disproportionate number of houses are being built in Cheswick Green compared to the rest of the Borough. Not enough houses are being built on brownfield sites.
2. Even more problems accessing local services - further strain on the NHS for appointments, operations and a longer wait to see the Doctor. No plan included to build a new GP surgery alongside these houses.
3. Strong likelihood of more flooding - the more green space that is lost to housing the greater the likelihood of future flooding to a greater extent.
4. Travel, employment and public transport - it will take longer to commute on already busy, congested and gridlocked roads at peak times. No local employment and public transport benefits. A new transport policy is not included within the draft plan.
5. The environment - the council intend to create an artificial boundary by building a road as part of the proposed development. This goes against the spirit and intentions of national planning policy
6. Preventing even more development in future years - Dog Kennel Lane is the only boundary between Cheswick Green and adjoining areas of the Borough. If that boundary is lost the rest of Cheswick Green is open to further extensive development. We face the likelihood that very little if any green space will remain.

As a relatively new resident in Cheswick Green on the new Cheswick Place development I understand the importance in creating new homes for the increasing population in the Borough, however, as a young couple I am concerned about when I start a new family of the provisions that will be or not be available for my children. There is a lack of detail over how amenities will be managed and be able to cope with even more residents flooding the area. The balance between Urban/Rural areas is what currently makes the area so attractive at the moment and I fear with more development will have a detrimental effect.

1. Cheswick Green cannot cope with any more developments
2. Even more problems accessing local services
3. Strong likelihood of more flooding
4. Travel, employment and public transport
5. The environment - the council intend to create an artificial boundary by building a road as part of the proposed development. This goes against the spirit and intentions of national planning policy
6. Preventing even more development in future years

The plan is so flawed that it should be abandoned, far too much development has taken place in Blythe.
Where will the residents find work without considerable increase in traffic.
What happened to brown field sites?

The loss of high quality green belt land including the loss of a natural green belt boundary and the creation of an artificial boundary represents a serious decline in the attraction of the area. The area to the west of the A34 has been ridiculously over developed and before long the whole area will be covered with housing. No proper provision is apparently made for schools, medical facilities and other infrastructure. There are already serious problems with school places. The roads are at saturation point and no consideration has been given to flooding, particularly in Cheswick Green (Mount Brook)

I would like to see a GP practice included. However I would prefer the housing development to be moved to a brownfield site.

A disproportionate number of houses are being built in Cheswick Green compared to the rest of the borough. Why not build on brownfield sites? .The infrastructure is not in place to cope with a doubling of numbers of residents ie schools, health centres . There are no plans for a new GP surgery. The integrity of Cheswick Green as a separate village is being slowly eroded as the space between CG boundaries with Shirley are shrinking.

Not being built

Cheswick Green cannot cope with any more developments
Five years ago, Cheswick Green had 1000 dwellings; at present there are 2000 dwellings. By the time Blythe Valley is complete there will be 3000 dwellings. If this development goes ahead there will be 4000+ dwellings.

A disproportionate number of houses are being built in Cheswick Green compared to the rest of the Borough. Not enough houses are being built on brownfield sites.

Even more problems accessing local services

This development will put further strain on the NHS for your hospital appointments, operations, and a longer to wait to see your Doctor. There is no plan to build a new GP surgery alongside these houses.

Strong likelihood of more flooding

Some of you will have suffered from flooding recently. The more green space that is lost to housing the greater, the likelihood of future flooding to a greater extent. Following the flood of 2109, a report was produced by Solihull MBC, but little finance is available to protect your homes even though the responsibility lies with Solihull MBC.

Travel, employment and public transport

Consider how much longer will it take you to get to and from work with already busy roads likely to become gridlocked at peak times. There are no local employment and public transport benefits and a new transport policy is not included within the draft plan.

The environment

National planning policy confirms that Green Belt should be defined by permanent features such as roads, railways or water courses.
The Council intend to create an artificial boundary by building a road as part of the proposed development. This goes against the spirit and intentions of national planning policy.

Preventing even more development in future years

Dog Kennel Lane is the only boundary between Cheswick Green and adjoining areas of the Borough. If that boundary is lost the rest of our Parish is open to further extensive development. We face the likelihood that very little if any green space will remain.

Stop building on greenfield sites. Start building on brownfield sites.

More houses in an area that is not going to be able to cope with this. It will increase pollution, noise and overcrowding. The infrastructure will struggle - local amenities are not designed for this number of people, roads will be blocked up. Flooding is already an issue in this area - more houses will only make this worse. This land is meant to be green belt and the area of Cheswick Green is going to lose its natural boundaries and become part of the urban sprawl. Cheswick has already had a disproportionate number of new dwellings built.

Cancel this plan to build 1000 homes

Over development. Do we really need more housing in an area that has had more than it's fair share.

Why destroy more countryside by building on Green Belt when brownfield should be used first.

Strain on already overstretched services.

The only change I’d like to see is for the development to be axed.

I believe a disproportionate number of dwellings are being built around Cheswick green and I am worried the local infrastructure cannot cope. Nobody seems to worry about the flood issue, I’ve witnessed first hand in dickens Heath major flooding problems, the balancing ponds do not work. New developments will create new flood issues in surrounding areas. Traffic on Stratford Rd is already a massive problem, more cars, more pollution, please build elsewhere!

Any new developments on Blyth Valley or Dog Kennel lane Must Jane provision for junior school GP services with adequate parking

Site 12 Dog kennel lane
Currently Cheswick green can not cope with any further development due to inadequate road system. To many dwelling are being built in there and not enough on other available sites. When thr current project are complete thr will be in excess of 3000 dwellings with in sufficient NHS doctors, schools and flood defences.

Other brownfield sites in the borough away from Cheswick Green should be considered.
Greenfield sites should never be considered for developments within the borough.
This plan should be dropped.

Cheswick Green will lose a boundary.
Dog Kennel Lane is the appropriate boundary and is being ignored.
A disproportionate number of houses are being built in Cheswick Green.
Put further strain on local services, doctors, NHS etc.
Strain on current infrastructure such as roads and transport causing gridlock at peak times.
There is a strong likelihood of more flooding.
Environmental concerns destroying local habitats etc

There should be a stop in building retirement homes, heard Solihull being referred to as God's doorstep with the sheer volume of retirements homes being built!! these should be turned into general flats for families or general people.....

I live with my family in Cheswich green, and our house has a stream at the bottom of the garden. Since the development of the Cheswick place we have noticed the stream getting much higher almost leaking into our garden. Those that live on willow drive do have flooding since the development. We will not be able to cope with more development. We cannot cope already with local GP services with the volume of residents.

There are too many retirement homes i solihull some of these should of been turned i to flats.

The surrounding roads leading to and from solihull from dog kennel should be increased , there are too many choke points currently for traffic

Extra flooding in the area,schools and GPS will be too overwhelmed and the road infrastructure will not cope especially at peak times for going to and from work

More thought needed as to where housing should go relative to employment. Areas should be properly assessed before development allowed. This area should not be developed as will lead to merging of settlements which goes against planning rules. It should be removed from the plan.

Doesn’t conform to NPPF for green belt. Dog Kennel Lane is a strong boundary, new build suggests a road is put in - will encourage further development. Inconsistency in green belt classification - moderate in latest, high 2016. Lack of background studies on flooding, traffic and other infrastructure; left to developers at planning stage. Flood risk downstream will increase. Remote from employment plus new school will cause traffic to increase. Amount of development in this part of borough is excessive - over 1,000 properties approved in recent years in Cheswick Green Parish. No guarantee heritage will be protected.

Better Road infrastructure is required to ease travel from the local villages to the Straford Road (which currently cannot cope with traffic levels now) before any proposal is considered.

Proposal for 1000 new homes will cause major traffic disruptions to an already over run Stratford Road. With a new houses estate how is the traffic from the new site going to filter onto the Stratford Road without causing major delays to the high traffic flow already in the area Getting in & out of Cheswick Green & Dickens Heath will become almost impossible.

move the development altogether

the new development will reduce the vital greenbelt land in the area. although there is a new school it will still place more pressure on the school in cheswick green and other nearby facilities such as doctor surgery. there will be a big increase in traffic in the area which already suffers from a high volume in traffic. overall it will affect public safety . the development is still far too close to the grade 2 listed building

Cancel or move the development.

The new development will impact on mine and my children's lives with more traffic, increasing the risks of road accidents and safety to the public especially children. It will also affect the local schools as they will need to be extended, changing the ethos of the schools and potentionally decline in performance and learning environment.
There will be less resources available at doctors and services which are already pushed.
Travel times to work, school runs etc will be extended due to the higher volume of traffic. There will be more cars parked along roads, making travelling more difficult.

The consultation period for this plan is only 6 weeks and is far less than other consultation in the West Midlands. More time should be allowed to properly scrutinize the plan particularly as most of the updates to the plan have been in the last 5-6 weeks. By only allowing 6 weeks is suggesting its being rushed through before the public have a chance to digest what is happening to the borough and green belt is built on.

The plan aim is to provide affordable housing in the BL2 & BL3 sites, however, the current average house price in Solihull is can range from £230,000 for a flat up to £600,000 for a detached house. The average salary in Solihull is currently around £30,000 so any new build house is going to be out of reach of most local people who they are supposed to be being built to house. This will inevitably mean these houses will be "second home" purchases by the people that can afford them and so denying local people from getting on the housing ladder. This is happening all over the borough and has for many years.

Shirley, where I live, is also receiving a disproportionate amount of these new build homes, where other areas of the borough appear to be untouched. There are already severe traffic issues around the surrounding roads near the proposed BL1 & BL2 sites so adding over 2,000 additional homes is adding at least another 4,000 cars to these roads. There are no proposed additional school extensions to take in the additional children that will live in these homes and getting to speak to or see a doctors at a SHP practice is a lengthy and time-consuming process now, which will be made worse by increasing the population in Shirley to the numbers in the plan. What are the council doing about increasing health and education facilities for all this new influx of people? The focus is always on housing but not the supporting infrastructure, roads, health and education. The plan states its considering the environment but this is not the case if the BL3 and BL2 sites go ahead. The vast increase of traffic from these to sites (and the BL1 development in Dickens heath, will bring the already very busy roads to a standstill at peak times of the day and all the pollution associated with it. Despite alluding to the contrary, people the will live on these sites will need and use a car to get around, the public transport system is sparse away from the main A34 and Solihull is now designed such that you need a car to get to supermarkets etc. There are buses but none go to Dickens Heath, Tidbury Green and Dog Kennel lane on a frequent basis to be of use.

Ensure these houses cannot be purchased as a second home and priority is given to first-time buyers.
Provide a larger percentage of these houses to be available for rent at a council regulated, rental value that takes into consideration the local average salary.

The proposed sites of BL2 and BL3 will not provide "affordable Housing" given that the average salary in Solihull is approximately £30,000 and the house price for these developments is £277,000. Therefore, these houses are 9 times the amount of the average salary for the borough meaning the vast majority of local people will not be able to get mortgages to purchase one thus denying them the chance to get on the housing ladder. This inevitably leads to more affluent people buying these as second homes and renting them out.

Use brown field sites instead.

The site will destroy Green Belt farmland and could damage, if not destroy, fine mature trees.
It will increase the risk of flooding downstream in the Cheswick Green area.
Many houses are already being built in Cheswick Green parish.This development will add to the excessive pressure on local services, such as transport and medical facilities.
The lack of a proper defined southern boundary to the development could lead to further development in the future, destroying the open space between Shirley and Cheswick Green. The proposed estate roads would probably encourage future development, country park plans not withstanding.

I think the development needs re-evaluating in terms of the proposed amount of houses. There needs to be a new Primary school built either in Blythe ValleY or Hockley Heath, and most definitely new medical facilities ie. Doctors surgeries, not least because of the extra developments on the Stratford Rood ( A34). It would seem that land is being developed from all sides and the congestion lack of planned infrastructure is going to blight all the local communities involved.
The proposed amount of another 1000 plus houses will put too much pressure on our local communities and needs to be re-evaluated.

I have lived in and around Cheswick Green for 40yrs. In that time from being a relatively Rural Village, the area is being gradually encroached upon with developments. Dickens Heath was built on Green Belt Farmland and Dog Kenne Lane and surrounding farmland was earmarked in all LDP’s to be kept as a buffer between the 2 Developments. First we had to accept further development at Cheswick Green and noe development in Blythe Valley, which began as a Nature Reserve! There is a now because of these developments not enough infrastructure for the proposed number of houses and people.

Put simply the road system can't currently cope at times with existing demand on Dog Kennel Lane and so if this scheme is to go ahead it will need a significant re-think about traffic flows and the use of sustainable transport because at present both rail and road are too far away from this site to be considered 'close'. My preference would be for this site not to be developed at all.

The BL2 site poses a number of challenges that will exasperate existing issues within the area.

Firstly, the current volume of traffic in the week day morning peak emanating from Dickens Heath towards the Stratford Road and M42 often means that a state of gridlock exists especially for residents needing to access Dog Kennel Lane via Tanworth Lane. This can add anything up to 30 minutes onto a journey that should take less than 5 minutes. This is coupled with other traffic utilising Dog Kennel Lane to access the Village Gym and Hotel complex and the residential care home.

The addition of multiple new access points on Dog Kennel Lane will only exasperate this problem in addition to putting further road traffic onto the Stratford Road, itself an extremely congested key artery. Shirley in general suffers from extremely acute traffic issues and its unclear from the proposals aside from vague statements about infrastructure improvement as to what would be done to alleviate this. It is also worth noting that Shirley, in particular on the Stratford Road and Dog Kennel lane suffers from repeated instances of anti-social driving and noise with little in the way of enforcement or deterrent.

Furthermore the statement about Whitlocks End Railway station providing a sustainable transport option is misleading. Whitlocks End Station represents a circa 30 minute walk (45 mins to Shirley Station) from this area which, given the distance will inevitably result in a large proportion of new users driving to the station vice walking counteracting any environmental benefit. Coupled with this, Whitlocks End Station consistently reaches peak capacity before 09:00 (Shirley by circa 07:30) meaning again the attraction of using the train is diminished.

The vast increase in retirement homes along the Stratford Road in addition to proposals such as BL2 and BL3 fail to take into account the lack of general infrastructure, including shops, restaurants, sports facilities and so forth which further enhances traffic in order for people in these areas to access such facilities.

Finally, and in a general point regarding education, there is no information provided as to whether local Secondary Schools (Light Hall being key) have sufficient capacity to cater for additional future demand. It stands to reason that if additional Primary schools are required that it must also follow that additional provision is provided for education after this point.

Site 12 should not go ahead. Cheswick Green has already had a disproportionate number of houses being built (with the housing already being built at Blythe valley and dog kennel lane) compared to the rest of the borough

Site 12
Too many houses are being built in and around Cheswick Green which eventually will mean it will just merge into surrounding area resulting in lost green belt land. Not enough houses being built on brownfield sites.
This development will make it even harder to see GP.
Creynolds lane is already very busy and with additional new housing will be much worse. Local roads will be gridlocked at rush hour.
Traffic already bad in and around cheswick green school an extension to the school will make it unbearable.
More housing will lead to even more flooding in the area.

The proposal for site BL2 should be removed from the plan in its entirety and development opportunities sought in other wards and brownfield sites.

This represents further erosion of the green space around Cheswick Green. The significant numbers of new houses have already significantly increased local traffic and increased pressure on GP Services. Flooding is a major concern, these new dwellings will add to the risk to existing dwellings. This development would mean a 300% increase in housing for the local area, a disproportionate number when compared to the rest of the borough. More provision should be made for wildlife, cycle and walking routes connecting the existing developments rather than yet more new houses. Brownfield sites should be used before development of greenfield sites.