Comment

Representation ID: 14303

Received: 05/10/2021

Respondent: Alison Clarges

Id like to voice my concerns regarding plans to build hundreds of houses on green belt land which runs alongside Walsall arboretum park. I was astonished to discover this today and I am not alone in feeling that these proposals are not known about locally and it took a sign in the park itself to notify me of the plans.

Firstly the plan would ruin the outlook of the park and destroy fields of natural beauty and wildlife habitat. The land has cows and sheep on and is home to lots of birds and animals and we should be doing everything in our powers to protect these green spaces especially in towns like Walsall where there is so little of it and few things that give you the well-being benefits and sense of community that the park does. Walsall has many flats and apartments and hence we need all the green space we have to help us spend time outside where we don’t have gardens.

Has the pandemic not taught planners anything ? The value of green spaces for mental health and fitness. Building a housing site would ruin the parks outlook, create noise, litter, traffic and increase crime and there is absolutely no justification for allowing this to happen other than developer being able to ask a premium for house prices as they will ‘ look out over the park’ . Shame on the decision makers who seek to destroy the peace and beautiful of this space, one that should be preserved and nurtured for future generations, not sold for a quick buck and to solve housing shortages when there are other sites that should and could be developed in Walsall. The changing face of town centres means there are lots of properties snd sites that need redesigning and regenerating, and there will be more of them over time . What is the point of building new houses on green belt land when the town centre is so poor and rundown. There are numerous sites on the outskirts of Walsall alongside the town centre that are crying out for redevelopment but instead the plan is to ruin park of an historical park instead !

I’m deeply unhappy that this plan has even been bought to the table. I sincerely hope that the word of this horrific plan gets out to the local community in time to stop this from happening.

Black country planners have some sense and think outside the box, don’t use green belt land as once it’s gone it ain’t never coming back.

I hope you consider the points I’ve raised