Comment

Representation ID: 19347

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mervyn Westley

I am a resident of [REDACTED- GDPR] Walsall and write to express my concern at the proposal in the Black Country Plan to build 202 houses on the land designated Pheasy Park Farm which borders Sutton Road and the canal. I realise that we have to build homes and applaud the West Midlands Mayor in the partnership with Mowden to build on brown field sites and elements of the plan which promote this option.

I am lucky to live in a green and pleasant area of the Black Country but apppreciate some building on geen field sites may be necessary to provide homes. My objection to building on this land is not a case of not in my back yard, I have no objection in principle to building on farm land where the ecological damage is relatively low but this is not the case with Pheasy Park Farm.

This is one of the most ecologically diverse and sensitive habitats in the Black Country, unfarmed for at least 45 years to my personal knowledge and containing streams and ponds, hedgerows and mature trees in which wildlife thrives. Along with the canal which it adjoins this is a major corridor for many sensitive threatened species linking as it does the Arboretum Extension (a Conservation Area) Rushall Canal (SLINC), Calderfields Golf Course through to Hayhead Wood (LNR) the former Walsall Airfield land and Sutton Road Wood (LNR)
These areas as you can see are designated areas of wildlife conservation and I repeat The Pheasey Park Farm land is a vital link for wild Iife between all these designated areas and should itself be given conservation status. The proposal to build on Aldridge Road, pWalsall along with the Pheasey Park Farm proposal if built would
make the Arboretum and Calderfields Golf Course into an unconnected island preventing the movement of wildlife species on to neighbouring land. Please see the attached map.
I also refer you to Walsall Council Site Allocation Document item7 Environmental Networks Quote: The key issue for provision of environmental networks across the Borough has been identified as follows:- The Borough contains many environmental sites in isolation but consideration could be given to linking these to form more cohesive networks. Building on this land would break an existing environmental network and is therefore running counter to the councils Site Allocation Document.
In my garden in Sutton Road I have [REDACTED- SENSITIVE] up to thirty species of birds in a single day including two species [REDACTED-SENSITIVE]
accessing the stream behind my garden from the
canal. There is far more however than that which spills over into my garden. I watch [REDACTED- SENSITIVE] displaying and mating on this land with [REDACTED-SENSITIVE] feeding on the tree seeds. This is a special place!
The range of wildflowers present on Pheasey Park Farm is extensive and vital in providing food for small mammals and insects, particularly insect pollinators allowing them to pollinate all the fruit and seed bearing plants and trees helping to maintain a healthy environment.
This is not just a blank green space on a plan it is a vital wildlife habitat which is probably the last place in Walsall which should be built upon.
To establish this argument as factual rather than just the self interest of a resident, I refer you to the independent ecological survey conducted on this land and in the hands of Walsall Council which lists more than 100 bird species and many reptiles and mammals including threatened species which depend on this land to survive.
The air quality in Walsall is poor enough given the density of the housing, the many major roads and the two major motorways which meet in the town. This land together with the adjoining areas already mentioned are the lungs of Walsall. Building on the few green spaces which help ameliorate the problems of air pollution and the health problems it produces is itself a bad idea, but I reiterate this is a special piece of land and should be treated as such.
I respectfully request that during consideration of the public consultation into the Black Country Development Plan the details above appertaining to Pheasey Park Farm are seriously considered.