Support

Representation ID: 18006

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Joan Kendrick

Title of Document:Draft Black Country Plan
Policy Referenc: DSA4

I support the proposal to allocate land at Corbett Meadow, Stourbridge as a Local Green Space Designation (LGSD).
1. What remains of Corbett Meadow is an important part of the historical and natural environment in Amblecote and has been for over 100 years.
2. With climate change it is increasingly important as a green lung or a breath of fresh air in contrast to the pollution from traffic on Amblecote High Street (A449).
3. It is one of the few ‘healthy and safe places’ remaining in Amblecote.

In 1892 John Corbett donated The Hill and the surrounding estate to create a hospital to serve the people of Stourbridge and district. He paid for the conversion of the house and £20,000 as an endowment. Additional money to support the hospital came from donations and an annual fete held in the grounds. It was clearly never the intention to fund the hospital by selling off bits of land to buy bandages and bedpans.
In July 1948 ( under the national Health Service Act of 1946) Corbett Hospital and its grounds became part of the NHS. National Insurance and taxes went towards running costs.
Dudley Primary Trust has already sold off some of the land to developers and Diane Wake, chief executive of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust sees the land as a ‘resource’. As long as she thinks that way the future of the Meadow will be in jeopardy.
Such a sale would provide much needed cash in the short term but in the long term would mean an irretrievable loss to the local area.
There is an increasing appreciation of how the natural environment can help mental health. A friend has dementia and one of the last proper conversations I had with him was in the Corbett Hospital Cafe overlooking the Meadow. He talked of how, as a boy, he had played there and discovered a love of nature that stayed with him all his life. He described hearing birdsong and the excitement when he found Great Crested Newts in one of the ponds. That view of the Meadow brought back happy memories and had a calming effect on him. Could the meadow not be used to help people struggling with mental health problems?
Amblecote has little green space remaining and during my lifetime I have seen many large estates built here. The Old Wharf Road Development of 250+ properties is set to put additional strain on an infrastructure that is already inadequate, especially as regards GPs and schools. Giving Corbett Meadow an LGS is the right and moral thing to do.