Object

Representation ID: 12470

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Richard Roberts

BLACK COUNTRY PLAN - WALSALL
Objections to housing in areas WAH242 & WAH233 etc.
It's in the Green Belt. What is the point of a Green Belt if it doesn't do what it was originally, and should still currently be, designed to do?
The Green Belt is going to be increasingly fragmented to the detriment of all the positive aspects of green spaces.
Walsall is in extraordinary position in having a green space that adjoins the town centre and is linked to the wider countryside.
The Green Belt's proximity to the town centre acts as a green space for the benefit of Walsall's residents especially if they don't have their own gardens. This has been been highlighted during the pandemic. The Arboretum and the surrounding fields are all part of the integrated green space. It's a benefit to wellbeing, exercise, the appreciation of nature.
The Arboretum in conjunction with the Green Belt helps to absorb pollution and activates clean air which is vital to Walsall being so close the major motorway network.
The latest thinking in nature conservation is that wildlife corridors are vital to the survival to the natural world and biodiversity. The fragmentation of the Green Belt will be very damaging.

The proposed housing area WAH233 by the Rushall Canal not only contains the best preserved medieval moated site in Walsall, it has exceptional wildlife riches and has greater biodiversity than the Arboretum of the Country Park. Bird species seen here during the summer months include, [Redacted-sensitive information]. And throughout the year [Redacted-sensitive information] plus all the common garden/farmland/scrub loving birds.

The latest thinking in nature conservation is that wildlife corridors are vital to the survival to the natural world and biodiversity. The fragmentation of the Green Belt will be very damaging.
Proposed housing area WAH242 surrounding Calderfields Farm, adjacent to the Arboretum, is very beneficial to wildlife. [Redacted-sensitive information] fed in these fields nearly on a daily basis.

Proposed housing area WAH242 surrounding Calderfields Farm, adjacent to the Arboretum, is very beneficial to wildlife. [Redacted-sensitive information] fed in these fields nearly on a daily basis.

In the autumn and winter months and leading up to spring large flocks of [Redacted-sensitive information] also use these fields on a daily basis. Flocks of [Redacted-sensitive information] inhabit the treeline and hedge between the Arboretum and the fields and the fruiting hedge between the two fields. [Redacted-sensitive information] are occasionally seen, visiting from the nearby fields by the Rushall Canal.

This hedge acts as a useful food source in the autumn and a roosting sight for [Redacted-sensitive information]. Birds are RSPB Red Listed species (Birds of Conservation Concern 4 (BOCC 4)) and are categorised as sharply declining and of major concern. Indeed we have noticed falling numbers of these species over the last 20 years as it is.

The hedge between the two fields at Calderfields Farm smothered with hawthorn berries. September 2021.