Object

Representation ID: 16166

Received: 23/11/2021

Respondent: Mr Anthony Hook

Will the Draft Plan be amended in light of the Government’s pausing of its controversial planning reforms if subsequently there are any relevant revisions to their proposals?
Subsequently in the Prime Minister’s address to the Tory Party Conference on 6th October, as reported in The Daily Telegraph, he pledged that no homes should be built on green fields ‘as ministers abandoned their plans for an overhaul of planning proposals.’ If this is the case then the Draft Plan will require a major review and any proposals to redesignate green belt land for house building should be reversed and discontinued forthwith in accordance with the Government’s latest intentions.
The Draft Plan appears to be in direct conflict with a number of requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework and the Council’s own policy requirements and design principles, the latter two of which have presumably over time been approved by elected members as part of the democratic process.
Where is the evidence to support the assertion there are insufficient brownfield sites to satisfy the demand for new build housing in Walsall? Of the 13,344 new homes, more than half, 7133 (figure given from a laptop at drop in session on 1st October) or 5418 (identified in the Summary document) are proposed to be built on the green belt with a derisory claim this is only 8% of the Borough total. What is the comparable figure for brownfield sites?
The use of green belt sites is indefensible in that green open spaces, essential for agriculture, enjoyment and leisure purposes are lost while brownfield sites remain undeveloped, often contaminated, more likely to be derelict, neglected and an eyesore to the local residents. This approach does not and will not regenerate communities.
If green belt sites have to be used to satisfy demand when there is no viable alternative, which is difficult to accept or comprehend, why is it not possible to proritise those with no impact on existing residential housing for development?
Landowners offer/sell desirable land for development for personal greed, generally with total disregard for and to the detriment of local residents/communities and other wider environmental issues in the knowledge that developers prefer green belt land for obvious reasons and will pay a premium for it.
The Draft Plan places an unacceptable and unfair burden on the Aldridge/Brownhills area with 5,500 new houses out of a total of 7,100 proposed on the green belt for the whole Borough of Walsall. What is the percentage of green belt land being sacrificed in Aldridge/Brownhills?
Why cannot neighbouring rural counties/authorities which have far more green belt and open spaces accept or be required to accept more of the responsibility for new housing? What is the percentage of green belt and open space/density of housing for each neighbouring local authority? In the Black Country Walsall has the highest target for new build housing.