BASE HEADER

No

ID sylw: 107706

Derbyniwyd: 04/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Lois Wynn

I object to site SG24. I am a long-time resident with family who live in the village and Lapworth. I am concerned about the scale of development and the flawed justifications. There are other potential sites which perform better than SG24. The site does not meet the sustainable development requirements outlined in the SWLP so the proposals are legally and ethically indefensible.

There are no 'exceptional circumstances' to justify development of this Green Belt site. The SWLP has ignored viable alternatives such as redevelopment of alternative brownfield sites and underutilized commercial spaces. The canal clearly cannot function as a defensible boundary with the removal of Green Belt. Several proposed sites are located beyond the canal. The scale of the allocation is disproportionate and will erode the village's identity and undermine local cohesion

Analysis of the wide-ranging impacts on character, environment and biodiversity has been inadequate. The area is ecologically diverse, particularly along the canal’s green corridors. I have witnessed deer, badgers and hedgehogs in my garden. Bats, insects and moths thrive in the coppices and woods. The SWLP does not meet the NPPF's requirement to conserve and enhance the natural environment and it does not take a strategic approach to enhancing natural capital. There is no credible mitigation plan, the environmental assessments are outdated, and additional traffic will increase air and noise pollution.

Hockley Heath's roads, schools, and healthcare facilities are already stressed and the SWLP fails to provide realistic solutions or mitigations for the impacts of large-scale development. Many local roads are single-lane with no pedestrian access, and rely on single-lane canal bridges. It is unrealistic to widen roads as this would require purchases of small pieces of land from large numbers of private properties. Hockley Heath has a single landlocked primary school already struggling with capacity and traffic congestion. I understand there are no school spaces in the local area for children reaching secondary school age. The SWLP does not set out a strategy for how education provision will be improved. The area is already beyond national thresholds for travel times to hospitals and A&E services and cannot handle increased demand for doctors and dentists. There has been no coordination with Solihull Council whose Plan indicates Hockley Heath is suitable only for small-scale development. The additional burdens of development will fall on Solihull Council.

Hockley Heath experiences severe surface water flooding, particularly along arterial routes which would serve SG24; School Road, Spring Lane, Cut Throat Lane and the A3400. Drainage infrastructure is insufficient to support additional development. The SWLP has not updated flood risk assessments to reflect the current challenges, has not provided a clear drainage mitigation strategy (particularly for the SG24 developments, some of which are on waterlogged land), and has not considered the cumulative impact of adding impermeable surfaces to high-risk flood zones. Hockley Heath has some facilities and can take a small level of growth but cannot proceed as a strategic growth location.