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ID sylw: 108892

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Warwickshire County Council

Minerals and Waste

No objections on mineral sterilisation subject to prior extraction of minerals and subject to
• Minerals Assessment Report (for assessing the possible impact on mineral resources and determining whether prior extraction is achievable),
• Materials Management Report (for assessing the sourcing and use of construction materials including the availability of on-site materials for reuse/recycling),
• Site Waste Management Plan (a plan for reusing/recycling waste on site and avoiding off-site disposal to landfill),
• Soil Management Plan (a plan to manage all soils on site during construction)

Active Travel

There is no existing cycling infrastructure that connects this area to the key local centres of Dorridge (approx. 4km) and south Birmingham. via the Blythe Valley Park employment site (approx. 6km). There is an existing network of cycle routes at Blythe Valley Park (approx. 6km) which connects into cycle an expanding network of routes feeding to Solihull, Shirley and Birmingham. Destinations beyond Blythe Valley Park are likely to be at the extreme of distances people could reasonably be expected to regularly cycle. The Grand Union Canal provides a potential cycling connection towards south Solihull and could potentially form part of a route to Blythe Valley Park, however the towpath would need to be upgraded to make it suitable for all year round cycling for utility/commuting trips and this does not connect directly to services or facilities. This site has no other cycling connections to urban areas although there is a network of low trafficked rural roads and lanes that have potential to be used for some cycling trips by cyclists comfortable with cycling in traffic. It becomes more difficult to find low trafficked on-road routes closer to urban areas.

There is extremely limited off-road cycling infrastructure in Dorridge.
New off-road cycling routes would be required to connect to both Dorridge and Blythe Valley Park. The Grand Union Canal would need to be upgraded to make it suitable for all year round utility/commuting cycling trips and provides limited connectivity benefits.

Key challenges relate to the length of connection required, a lack of space within the existing highway boundaries, the need to safely route across key transport corridors and deliver direct connections to existing urban cycling networks through built up areas all of which is likely to require significant amounts of third party land to be acquired. Our initial analysis therefore suggests this location will face significant deliverability and affordability challenges. The services, facilities and employment opportunities are relatively limited at Dorridge and Blythe Valley Park which are the most local centres. Upgrading the Grand Union Canal towpath would need the support of the Canals and Rivers Trust.

The site is well-related to the rail network in terms of Lapworth station which is located on the Birmingham to Leamington Spa (Chiltern) line. The station is currently served by a two-hourly stopping service operated by Chiltern Railways. West Midlands Trains hourly service between Stratford, Birmingham and Kidderminster (via Dorridge) also call at the station. The travel time to Birmingham and Stratford- upon-Avon is around 20 minutes in each direction.

The main issue on the rail network in this area is the lack of any substantial capacity to increase service frequencies much beyond their current level, due to a combination of passenger and freight services. As well as those services outlined above there is a Cross Country service each hour which uses the line but which does not call at any stations between Birmingham and Leamington Spa. The corridor is also heavily used for freight, most notably intermodal services to/from the deep sea ports at Southampton. A potential reconfiguration of some local services is currently being explored by WMRE, looking at how an hourly Birmingham to Leamington service could be delivered which would call at Lapworth. There is likely to be a need however to provide certain track and signaling improvements at Leamington to allow these services to operate.

Lapworth station would require substantial upgrading if it were to be the focus of rail provision to support a new settlement option in this area. The station has limited parking, with little obvious scope for expansion. The roads leading to it are a mixture of country lanes and residential roads with limited scope for improvement. Measures would be needed to manage parking in Kingswood village around the station to deter on-street parking by rail users. Active travel improvements to allow people to walk and cycle to the station would be required, along with cycle parking and an ‘Access for All’ footbridge with lifts. Opportunities to bring buses into the station forecourt would be limited due to the nature of the roads in the area and the available space.

Rail services at Lapworth would benefit from the proposed upgrade to at least an hourly service between Leamington and Birmingham. This will require ongoing engagement and negotiation with the West Midlands Rail Executive and train operators.

The scale of the infrastructure requirements at Lapworth is affordable but with some significant challenges in relation to deliverability, most notably around the provision of parking. Further work is needed to understand how new or enhanced rail services to serve Lapworth will be delivered contractually and in terms of any subsidy payments by a developer.

Bus

There are no inter-urban bus routes which pass near or through the site. Local bus services are also limited in this area. Rail services on the Chiltern line provide the main public transport links for local residents.

A new high quality, frequent service between Hockley Heath, Lapworth Rail Station, Shrewley Common, Warwick Parkway, Warwick and Leamington Spa will be required to help meet demand from the new settlement. An upgrade of the existing Service 510/511/513/514 which operate over parts of this corridor is not considered appropriate due to the many communities they serve and the nature of the country lanes which the bus takes.

Provision of high quality bus stops with shelters, Real Time Information and raised kerbs, along with bus priority measures at key junctions on the route of the proposed inter-urban service and within the new settlement should be provided. This will include locations within the West Midlands Combined Authority area, therefore the involvement of Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) and Solihull Council in the development of this route should be sought.

The proposed new inter-urban bus service and associated infrastructure improvements should be deliverable, affordable and viable in the long term if planned and promoted properly.

Highway (Strategic)

The site is poorly related to the SRN. M40 Junction 16, which is accessed via the B4439 and A3400 is located to the west of the site, but only has west-facing slips. This arrangement was provided specifically to protect traffic from rat-running through Hockley Heath between M42 Junction 4 (Monkspath) and M40 Junction 16. M42 Junction 4 is approximately 6 miles away and can be accessed from the site via the B4439 and A3400.

The limited access to the M40 at Junction 16 is a constraint to certain strategic movements from this area, specifically towards Warwick and Leamington Spa.

The M5/M6/M42 Motorway Box distributes strategic traffic passing through, around and within the West Midlands conurbation. As such it carries very heavy traffic levels throughout the day and at weekends. Part of the M42 is covered by Active Traffic Management measures to help manage flows during peak periods of use and during incidents. Provision of Smart Motorway technology on other sections of the M42 was under consideration until the recent pause was instigated by the previous Government.

A new Junction 5A on the M42 is currently being constructed by National Highways as part of a committed scheme from its Road Investment Strategy Period 2 (2020- 25) programme. The aim of the scheme is to improve the operation of M42 Junction 6 near Birmingham Airport/NEC and the forthcoming HS2 Interchange Station.

Improvements to the B4439 and A3400 to allow better access to the M40 and M42 will be required, although these will have impacts on Hockley Heath and the staggered junction arrangement between the A3400 and B4439/B4101. An assessment of impacts on M42 Junction 4 and the access to Blythe Valley Business Park will be required, with the timely engagement of National Highways. A wider assessment incorporating Junction 3A (M40/M42), Junction 5 (A41/A4141) and Junction 5A/6 (A45) may also be required to identify further mitigation.

An upgrade of M40 Junction 16 to provide an all-movements junction may be promoted by a developer but is unlikely to be supported by either National Highways, Solihull Council or Warwickshire County Council due to concerns over traffic re- routing away from the SRN, onto the A3400 and through the village of Hockley Heath.

Timely, proactive engagement with National Highways regarding the assessment of potential issues at M42 Junction 4 and the wider corridor and possible improvement measures should ensure they will be acceptable. Deliverability issues may be problematic if third-party (non-highway) land is required for any improvements at these junctions.

Highway (Local)

The site has reasonable access to the LRN, the main routes being the B4439 which passes through the site and links Warwick with Hockley Heath and South Birmingham, the A4141/A4177 which links Warwick with Knowle, Dorridge and Solihull and the A3400 which links Stratford-upon-Avon with Hockley Heath and South Birmingham.

Both the A4141/A4177 and A3400 were trunk routes (A41/A34) prior to the opening of the M40 in the early 1990’s, but neither are of a particularly high standard. They do however provide access to the motorway network (M40 Junction 16 and M42 Junctions 4 and 5). The B4439 is a cross-country route which links the A4177 (Hatton Locks) with the A3400 (Hockley Heath), which both cause queuing in peak periods due to their configuration and heavy mainline flows.

The low bridge in Kingswood village where the B4439 passes under the Birmingham to Leamington rail line is a constraint for certain vehicles due to its height restriction of 3.7m/12ft 3in. This could have implications for the construction of a new settlement in this area if it were to proceed.

The scope for improvements to the LRN in this area is limited. An alignment for the A3400 Hockley Heath Bypass was previously protected by Solihull Council, but this ceased around 2017/18. Improvements are likely to focus on the B4439, A3400 and A4141/A4177, as well as individual junctions such as the A4177/B4439 Hatton Locks and A3400/B4439/B4101 Hockley Heath – although whether these will be sufficient to mitigate the impacts of a new settlement in this area will need to be confirmed through detailed modelling, with the involvement of Solihull Council.

There is unlikely to be any appetite from Warwickshire County Council to improve the B4439 low railway bridge at Kingswood, as by doing so it may serve to attract larger vehicles from South Birmingham and Redditch to use the route to access the M40 at Junction 15 (Warwick). There are also likely to be engineering challenges in lowering the carriageway associated with water and flooding.

Modest improvements to the alignment of the B4439, A3400, A4141/A4177 and associated junctions noted above should be both deliverable and affordable, although third-party land may need to be secured. Any potential resurrection of the Hockley Heath Bypass would need to be discussed with Solihull Council and Warwickshire County Council. The cost of this scheme if it were to fall entirely on the new settlement may not affordable or deliverable, as it falls outside the indicative land boundary of the new settlement.


Education Impacts


Overall numbers would suggest the need for 1 new secondary school for 6,000 new dwellings and 2 new secondary schools for 10,000 new homes.

At primary we would suggest the need for 3 or 4 new primary schools for 6,000 new dwellings and between 5 and 7 new primary schools for 10,000 new dwellings.

The possibility of delivering all through schools to be considered, i.e. co-location of at least part of the primary offer with new secondary facilities.

There is an assumption that all new primary facilities will include early years facilities and Special Resource Provision facilities.

There is an assumption that all new secondary schools will provide for sixth form teaching on site and that there will also be a Specialist Resource Provision included.

No local capacity to take initial growth. Home to school transport implications.