300 new homes in DH:Have your say

The Solihull Council (SMBC) Draft Local Plan has set out a plan for over 300 new homes to be built on Braggs Farm/Brickiln Farm, Griffin Lane and Cleobury Lane.

This will have a significant inpact on the village. If you would like to make a representation, preferably using the SMBC response form (available at www.solihull.gov.uk/ldf or at Dickens Heath library), you MUST do so by 5pm on Monday 5th March at the latest.

Send paper responses to:

Spatial Planning Team, Solihull Council, PO Box 19, Council House, Solihull, B91 9QT

Or by email to  sustainabledevelopment@solihull.gov.uk

You can only make comments as to whether the plan is sound – e.g,  ‘justified’ and ‘effective’.

Here are some thoughts from the Parish Council:

‘Justified’ – has public consultation taken place?

• Housing Sites 17 and 18: Braggs Farm and Griffin Lane were removed from the Green Belt in the 1990s for long term development, they are not new.
• Housing Site 20: Cleobury Lane has been included for the first time, there has been no consultation on its release from the Green Belt.
• There has been no consultation on SMBC’s increased housing requirement – up from 10,500 houses to 14,000 houses

 ‘Effective’ – are the sites suitable, available and achievable to that the plan is deliverable?

• SMBC has done no traffic survey in relation to housing site 20.
• The SMBC ‘SHLAA’ assessment does not provide evidence that the sites can satisfactorily be developed within the constraints of       the current infrastructure – ie. Highways, schools, open space.  The evidence therefore does not show that the sites are deliverable, and the plan is not effective as it may not be deliverable.

Take a look at the plan by clicking here.

Can our village roads take the strain of the construction, let alone occupation of 300 new homes? Does the council’s plan to improve Whitlocks End railway station to releive traffic pressure provide adequate alternatives to the car?

Whatever your views, make sure they are heard.