Object

Representation ID: 19705

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Malcolm Caine

The following comments apply to Walsall Local Authority, Streetly Ward.

Every planner should well know the reasons why land was designated as “greenbelt”. Those reasons have not changed, in fact they are even more apposite now than ever before. This land is sacrosanct and must never be developed.

On the land marked on the plan as WAH 234 and bounded by Doe Bank Lane, Queslett Road East, and
Aldridge Road, Streetly, it is proposed to build 960 homes.This cannot be allowed as Streetly is full. Full of houses, full of people, full of cars. If there is any doubt about this, try enrolling a child at a local school, try registering a family at a local GP practise, try parking a car at a local railway station after about 7.00a.m. They are all full.

960 new homes would mean at least 960 extra cars on the roads leading to more pollution and the
emission of more carbon dioxide. If only half the houses had one child, that would need the provision of 480 extra places in our existing schools, which are already full. To build this number of dwellings on this land without the necessary extra infrastructure in terms of of new schools, surgeries, hospitals and improved transport links etc. etc. Is totally unacceptable.

With reference to the land bounded by Chester Road, the railway line to the east, and Pacific Nurseries on their northern side, the same objections apply as for WAH 234. Chester Road is overloaded with traffic especially during rush hour. There are no schools nearby, and no GP surgeries, in a word; no infrastructure, and therefore unsuitable for development.

With reference to the two smaller pieces of land in Streetly, one to the north of the junction of
Wood Lane and Foley Road West and the other bounded by Chester Road, Windermere Drive and the
railway line, adjacent to Pacific Nurseries on their southern side, this is nothing more than blatant backland development. There has been an enormous amount of this in Streetly in recent years.For example the former Cutler’s Garage site, the former Satterthwaites site, the former Buccaneer public house site and the construction of Centurion Drive, all off Chester Road, to name but a few. As noted above, Streetly is full. We do not need more housing in this area.

The latter of the two sites mentioned above includes Hingley’s Covert, an area of mature woodland. To destroy this would be an act of folly, especially as it is well known that trees absorb carbon dioxide - a much needed property in the campaign to reduce global warming. To cut down trees and replace them with cars would deliver a double negative blow to this campaign, and must not be allowed.

Finally, the answer to the housing shortage is surely not to fill in every crook and cranny, willy nilly, be it green or brown, but to build new towns with a finite size. This could be defined in terms of land area or population numbers. This would allow for the provision of all the necessary infrastructure at the planning stage. When such a town became full, that would mean the end of all
development and another new town built somewhere else. If this scheme were adopted, it would mean
that any brownfield sites, such as the former petrol station on Queslett Road East, could be returned to the greenbelt. Now that would be something!