Thank you very much for your response.

Please find attached my official comments to be included in the Core Strategy Consultation. I have also filled out a Survey online to respond to the questions posed in there, however I still believe that the questions do not give members of the public fair chance to for their views on greenbelt development to be recorded due to the way that the options are worded.

I would also like to clarify one part of your response. You mention that the Council's have identified as many brownfield sites as possible, may I ask whether that means all brownfield sites within each of the four boroughs or only those that each local authority deems reasonable for development?

Thanks again for getting back to me with this response.

I wish to strongly object to elements of the Black Country Core Strategy which asserts that the greenbelt must be reviewed in order to meet housing needs. As the Chairman of Halesowen & Rowley Regis Conservative Association, I also want to register our strong opposition to any proposals to release greenbelt land for development

It is totally wrong for any greenbelt development to be considered before this space has been fully utilised. Doing so would be a betrayal of the members of the public, particularly in Halesowen, who only very recently had to fight to save their countryside from the development of an enterprise zone in the vicinity of Halesowen Abbey. In this instance Dudley Council recognised the importance of the greenbelt and withdrew any proposals to that end, yet we are faced yet again with another proposal to release greenbelt land for development.

Those local residents have been vocal once again in opposing the consideration of releasing any greenbelt land at this time and I would urge that the Core Strategy listens to them, and their elected representatives.

In Halesowen, we are privileged to have such a historic stretch of countryside on our doorsteps. We also have historic sites such as the Halesowen Abbey ruins. Developing houses on these historic sites would mean the loss of hundreds of years of our local history and also lead to further infrastructure development which could cause the destruction of even more valued countryside.

Brownfield sites within the borough have not been effectively utilised for either housing or employment needs in recent years. I am aware that this is also the same in the other boroughs within the Black Country. I would suggest that the local authorities concentrate their efforts on maximising the space that it already has available to them,rather than attempting to release new space from the greenbelt. I have not yet seen proof that this is being done and so I would suggest that there are no exceptional circumstances for releasing greenbelt land as set out by the National Planning Policy Framework.

I would lend my support fully behind the Halesowen Abbey Trust and other elected representatives in Halesowen in opposing this element of the Core Strategy . I do hope that you take our views seriously and reconsider the stance taken on the greenbelt.