Comment

Representation ID: 16402

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: H E Allen

SA-0003-SAN Peak House Farm

It was extremely disturbing to discover that contrary to the view of Sandwell Strategic Planning Officers, the above plan includes the Peak House Farm (Wilderness Lane) site. The very fact that Sandwell’s Planning Department consider the site unsuitable for development and an essential part of the Green Belt should mean that it is not included.

The development of the site for housing would have a severe impact on the local infrastructure. The schools are already oversubscribed and the side roads of Wilderness Lane and Peak House Road are frequently solid with traffic especially in the morning and the afternoon due to Q3 school. The A34 is frequently solid with traffic either heading towards the motorway or towards Walsall and the nature of the land in the area means it is not possible to put in new roads to ease any congestion.

The loss of this Green Belt area would also have a severe impact on the wildlife corridor leading from Great Barr Park, through Merrions Wood, Peakhouse Farm land down to the Sandwell Valley. The land is currently tenanted by a farmer and surely after recent events, the loss of agricultural land would not appear to be a good idea moving forward.

I fully support Sandwell Council’s Planning Officers in saying this site should not be included in the Sandwell Black Country Development Plan due to the constraints on the site and the problems it would cause to the surrounding area.