Object

Representation ID: 23572

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Save the Seven Cornfields Campaign Group

Agent: Save the Seven Cornfields Campaign Group

Broadly and Summarised:
1) We support the exclusion / non-inclusion of the Seven Cornfields as a site for housing development.
2) We support the saving of the Green Belt Seven Cornfields site.
3) We oppose development on the Green Belt and important greenfield sites.
4) We do not support the housing forecast model used. Equality Impact assessment is needed.
5) We do not support the excessive housing target of 76,000 homes.
6) We believe there should be greater equity and equality within the local planning process and Nolan standards of public office be upheld.
7) We believe the Seven Cornfields is an important carbon sink, it contributes to care of the planet and local areas, avoids flooding and provides equality of access.
8) The report addresses amongst others Para 3.15-3.16, Policy DEL2, Policy HOU1, Policy CC1
9) Brownfield, derelict land, retail and office spaces can meet the housing demands.
The Black Country Plan 2039 policy on Climate Change is inadequate and falls within other objections about lack of innovation and total reliance on sustained growth of existing models of production, wealth generation and income generation. Alternatives don’t have to be absolutely alternative than present ones but, in many instances, just require a bit more creativity and imagination from policy makers and employers.

Applying the right discretion to the Black Country Local Plan and Local Planning process can ensure that the pioneering and guiding principles are adhered to and this ought to be the genesis of an Option that takes proper account of:

1.Exercise Free at the point of participation.
Quality of Life especially in relation to Health Improvement and declining provision of Health Care and Treatment. In essence, wise decisions and actions should result in more people exercising and undertaking mental exercises to reduce mental ill health. Exercises such as walking in Green Spaces provides such overall health benefits which are free at the point of participation. More so than in richer areas where residents have the residual income to purchase subscriptions, poor folk have difficulty with ensuring capacity to buy and rely on free at point of participation facilities.

2.Life choice changes following Covid 19The pandemic and consequential lock downs has informed many of the different life choices available. None of these are considered in the assumptions generated in Housing Demand forecasts. Spending more time and working at home has highlighted the dis-benefits of daily commutes. It has also raised the question of a life well lived which need not be premised on full time work and constant consumptions.

3.The Care of the Planet and Protection of Green Belt paradigm In less than a decade the realisation that the Planet needs to be protected from polluting industries and unthinking exploitation, this is coupled with a need to safe important clusters of flora and fauna. Natures Carbon Sinks must be sustained. Fundamentally, investors and developers should not be able to make income or wealth destroying the planet or a locality. (Policy CC1)

4.Dramatic Weather Patterns and Flooding Few could dispute in Britain, Europe and the World dramatic changes in weather patterns have resulted in Floods which the consequential economic, social and physical damages and costs. It is beyond stupid to develop on sites where the risks of Flooding on the site and adjacent areas is probable or already demonstrated. The Seven Cornfields site, for instance, has suffered from changes in the water layers and there has been frequent flooding of the Penn Golf Club site. This problem will in every likelihood of greater flooding and damage on the Golf course if the Seven Cornfields site is developed. Policy CC1

5.Fungal diversification
Increasingly, scientists are realising that the microscopic action of fungi are important in maintaining a viable ecosystem. These takes a long period to develop and cannot easily be built up once lost. Many Green Belt and important green field sites are hosts to a very diverse biosphere of fungal networks that are important to above ground plant life. Policy CC1

6.Pollution
Air pollution increases with development and traffic. Some but not all air borne pollutants are reduced where large green tracks exists. Put another way, a fully developed and built area with
stagnant air leads to respiratory problems. Policy CC1

7.Business Growth does not always require extra buildings
(In reality, it is people and their activities - not buildings and physical infrastructure - which release and realise creativity and productive potential that then creates income and wealth. Relationships between individuals, groups and communities create income and wealth. Traditional economics and that contained in the Local Plan considered an old formulae which is entrepreneur plus land, labour and capital creates wealth. A brief consideration of some of the largest businesses to date with phenomenal growth, these demonstrate Land is not so critical. Consider Facebook, Bit Coin, Uber, Amazon and Google. Policy CC1