Object

Representation ID: 12484

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Ann Burton

Site Ref : WAH242 Calderfields West Site alongside Walsall Arboretum.

I object to proposals to develop the above site. I grew up in Walsall, I went to school in Walsall and lived in the area for many years and return regularly to visit friends.
It breaks my heart when I visit and see Walsall Town. The town is sad and broken. Long gone are the individual local businesses and now the large chains have also disappeared in large numbers. Walsall Arboretum is Walsall's jewel. It doesn't look as if it belongs to a sad and broken town, It is so much more than a park and yes it has been improved over the years and it is very well cared for. I applaud and congratulate the council for this.

Please do NOT build alongside the arboretum. The green belt land is precious. Look to the brownfield sites first. Be proactive, be brave, search out the brownfield sites, move them / push them forwards. Do not build on Green Belt Land. Once gone, forever gone. Do not be weak and give up the Green Belt. Be strong, find alternatives. Look at some of the great regeneration success stories and learn from them - some of them are on your doorstep. Broad Street/Brindleyplace in Birmingham is a great example of housing and business co-existing and bring life and prosperity to an area. Surely, Walsall deserves and needs more than just more housing aimed at the more affluent. What about housing for the younger generation looking to start out on the housing market.
I know you will say 'We will plant a line of tree to hide the houses'. This isn't good enough. The open field views, the grazing animals add another aspect to the arboretum and visitors enjoyments of it. The pandemic demonstrated how important our open space is both physically and mentally. This particular view gives that feeling of 'space', it is different to the rest of the park. When I visit I see families enjoying these views. Don't wait until it is too late to realise how important this is.
I also object to the damage to the wildlife. The building of houses on this land will destroy wildlife corridors and will, at best, limit and push back the wildlife in the arboretum itself, at worst it will destroy much of the wildlife in the arboretum. The noise and light from so many houses will drive them away. I am sure there are [Redacted-sensitive information] and other protected species in the area. I know there is a wide variety of birds. I have seen the [Redacted-sensitive information].
Finally, I have seen the arboretum and the Aldridge Road dual carriageway flood. Surely, building on fields between two flood zones will exasperate these issues.