Policy ENV1 – Nature Conservation

Showing comments and forms 1 to 30 of 59

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 10662

Received: 01/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Su Brad

Representation Summary:

More areas classed as brownfield sites should be kept as nature reserves. I have a plot at the rear of my house which has flourished from not being tampered with. If this is built on, where do the foxes etc that live on that land go? Where would their home be?

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11302

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Usha Kumari-Burns

Representation Summary:

Wildlife suffers, well being suffers when there are no open spaces.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11353

Received: 30/09/2021

Respondent: Ms Julia Hawes

Representation Summary:

Our priority should be protecting the green belt and enhancing it, not destroying it. The loss of green belt in Pelsall/Shelfield - Coronation Street will affect the local residents by depriving them of access to green spaces, as well as removing vital habitats for wildlife.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11405

Received: 30/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Melanie Knight

Representation Summary:

Green belt land in and around Streetly is vital for wildlife, mental and physical health and helps protect our community from being swallowed up by urban sprawl.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11490

Received: 04/10/2021

Respondent: Woodsetton Charitable Trust

Representation Summary:

Turls Hill and Swan Brook Valley are surrounded by built development providing local residents with a unique resource for education ,leisure and recreation.They also provide pedestrian access .
Confirmation of the Turls Hill Green Belt is welcomed.The Swan Brook Valley should also be given Green Belt protection and both areas need to be designated as Special Areas of Conservation and Local Nature Reserves.
Hurst Hill ancient Woodland was worked for limestone before the Wrens Nest and the whole area should be included.



Support

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11580

Received: 06/10/2021

Respondent: Mr. Dennis R Whittaker

Representation Summary:

It's logical.

Support

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 11838

Received: 09/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Richard Knight

Representation Summary:

The limited natural resources in the Black Country need to be carefully protected.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12021

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Miss Emma Thompson

Representation Summary:

Policy ENV1 – Nature Conservation is added to the list of policies that such development proposals will also need to consider. Reinforcing the requirement for windfall development to consider the Environmental Transformation policies will add further to their significance and ensure developers are considering the purpose of these polices at the earliest stage

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12027

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Miss Emma Thompson

Representation Summary:

1b. Object strongly to the exclusion of Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) from this point. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) does not distinguish between types of designated Local Wildlife Sites and there is therefore no planning justification for this approach being taken in the BCP. Defra Group guidance on the production of Local Nature Recovery Maps states that Local Wildlife Sites should be included in Core Areas, and that the focus in these areas is on improving the condition of habitats, restoring natural ecosystem function and expanding the area of sites.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12114

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mrs Nicola Jones

Representation Summary:

With the number of homes being built the noise levels both during construction and after will increase significantly. There will also be more traffic therefore increasing pollution to the area as well as disruption to quiet, calm spaces such as our local park and wildlife

Support

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12164

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mrs Carol Thomas

Representation Summary:

I support all the objectives of the Environmental Transformation policy, especially ENV1 1b. The site of the former Wolverhampton Environmental Centre projects into the Smestow Valley LNR and is under threat of being used to provide fourteen homes, with a considerable effect on wildlife of increased traffic, noise and lighting. It was removed from green belt classification prior to outline planning permission being granted (now expired). The green belt area around the LNR has already been plundered for housing, for the original Redrow estate (2012), the Cedars (2014), probably to be joined by 140 houses on the college site.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12623

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Mr William Cowley

Representation Summary:

I am objecting to the use of Greenfield sites for this house building project the reasons for not using Green land or obvious and many ie loss of farmland destruction of natural habitat increased flood risk and environmental degradation there are SINC sites established in Victorian times adjacent to the proposed new housing estate this new build and its ancillary support systems will inevitably have a damaging effect upon these sites leading to their destruction

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12654

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Chris Beebee

Representation Summary:

In part due to the arboretum we have a great variety of wildlife including [Redacted-sensitive information] and many different types of birds, you can hear the joy of children visiting the park when they see sheep, horses and cows grazing on the land you want to develope.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12783

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Miss Angela Davies

Representation Summary:

As a resident of streetly I strongly object to these plans as it would absolutely devastate the area! This piece of land is literally the lungs of the area, it is home to an abundance of wild life and is also green belt land as you know, we simply can not allow this to happen!
I really fear for the future of the children of our area if this absurd plan is allowed to go ahead. I have lived in streetly nearly all my life, I grew up looking out on to those beautiful fields everyday, there are some really beautiful old trees on the land, it would be criminal to destroy this area and turn it into a concrete jungle.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12885

Received: 07/10/2021

Respondent: Margaret Mayock

Representation Summary:

HEDGES, FIELDS AND TREES
In these times governments are having emergency talks about global warming, we should not be uprooting trees, hedges and fields when there are other places that can be used for housing such as town centres with shops abandoned and lying empty. These places should be considered first. World leaders realise we are running out of time, the planet must be protected and we are taking a backward step once more buildings, drives and roads are erected and concreted there will be unforeseen drainage problems.

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12897

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Dr Sarah Harris-Darley

Representation Summary:

Given the level of environmental destruction and loss of habitat that has already happened in this
area, I am extremely concerned about the negative environmental impact and I don't feel that this
has been fully addressed.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 12998

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Narinder Badyal

Representation Summary:

Developing Calderfields would result in a loss of nature conservation.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 13017

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Mrs Elaine Baggott

Representation Summary:

Concerns about wildlife raised.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 13225

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Mrs Angela Wadeley

Representation Summary:

Concerning areas with special protections like Wren's Nest or Fens Pools, I am pleased that these are included in the plan and that much will be made of SINCS, SLINCS, SSSI etc, to protect our green spaces

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 13670

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust

Representation Summary:

We note paragraphs 5 and 6 within policy ENV1 and propose that wording be added to make it clearer that such wildlife corridors can also support walking and cycling, and boating, where a former canal corridor is restored for such public access.

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 13729

Received: 06/10/2021

Respondent: Miss Jodie Hannon

Representation Summary:

These plans will ruin an already overpopulated community! IT will result in the loss of nature trails, which I know most of the community, including myself and my two children use & enjoy, wildlife will dwindle & perish as well as the loss of beautiful scenery!

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 14040

Received: 01/11/2021

Respondent: Mrs Louise Frances

Representation Summary:

Although by its very nature Greenbelt land surrounds our communities – it is the beating heart of what keeps them alive. Our quality of life is directly linked to biodiversity and the quality of our surrounding environment – losing greenbelt land to development would be catastrophic to the village. Not only would the character of the village be lost but we would simply merge into another suburb of Walsall and Birmingham and all the problems a grossly urban environment brings (increased crime, deprivation, poorer quality of life, poorer health, etc).

There is a wealth of research proving how intrinsically biodiversity is linked to our quality of life, and the importance of safe, accessible and well-connected green spaces for our mental health and wellbeing has never been more pertinent, with the effects of the pandemic.

Access to nature and green spaces should be a right, not a ‘nice to have’. They should be an absolute priority in developing equitable and resilient communities in urban areas (Natural England, 2011)

The invaluable ecosystem services provided by our greenbelt land include renewable resources, food provision, filtering water pollutants, reducing the heat island effect, reducing flooding, reducing air pollution, soil formation, nutrient cycling and acting as a carbon sink and reducing impacts of climate change. Therefore any development on this land would have a serious negative impact, particularly in terms of:
1. Pressure on local services
2. Building on natural environments amplifies the heat island effect – a huge concern in the midst of a climate crisis!
3. Natural habitats help us to mitigate the effects of climate change.
4. Drainage/Flooding: Natural habitats such as greenbelt absorb rainwater better than urban habitats, preventing flooding.
The Development Plan shows flagrant disregard for the Birmingham and Black Country BAP (2010) which emphasises the importance of considering landscape scale conservation and the value of wildlife corridors when protecting species. Indeed, the B&BC BAP 2010 states: “Birmingham and the Black Country’s biodiversity is a critical component of high quality of life and contributes significantly to the quality of the environment within the conurbation.” The damage caused by a development of this kind would be extremely detrimental.

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 14615

Received: 05/10/2021

Respondent: Mrs Joan Bowman

Representation Summary:

I object to more houses being built on our green spaces. We are becoming one huge development of houses from Wolverhampton to Dudley.
Also with more houses there will be more cars and the Dudley road and Bullring are already at saturation point. If you walk through the bullring at rush hour you can smell and taste fumes which is a health hazard.

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 14844

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Alison Wilkes

Representation Summary:

Policy ENV1
1b
Object: Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) should not be excluded from this point. The NPPF does not distinguish between types of designated Local Wildlife Sites and so there is no justification for this approach being taken in the BCP. In fact, the NPPF states that locally designated sites should be included in the identification, mapping and safeguarding of local wildlife-rich habitats and networks carried out by Local Plans.

Object: Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) should not be excluded from this point. Defra Group guidance states that Local Wildlife Sites should be included in Core Areas of Local Recovery Maps. These sites are also included in the Nature Recovery Opportunity Map published as Appendix 18 of the BCP.

Comment: Nearby land-use and other changes can have a negative impact on sites, this should be reflected in the wording.

1c
Object: Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) should not be included in this point. The NPPF does not distinguish between types of designated Local Wildlife Sites and so there is no justification for this approach being taken in the BCP. SLINCs should be included in 1b.

2
Comment: The policy should state that a Local Site Assessment must be carried out and submitted to the Local Sites Partnership where development is likely to impact a Site of Important for Nature Conservation, a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation or a Potential Site of Importance.

Comment: The policy should clearly state that supporting information must include a data search from the local Environmental Records Centre.

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 16768

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Birmingham & Black Country Botanical Society

Representation Summary:

I would however like to object on behalf of the Birmingham and Black Country Botanical Society to the omission of the Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) from policy ENV1, points 1c and 1d of the Vision and Policies document. These sites have been allocated a nature conservation designation by a transparent and Black Country-wide inclusive system which involved and is agreed by the local authorities. You will also be aware that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that local plans should safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity.
Sites of importance for nature conservation (SINCs) may have a more easily assessed significance, but SLINCs still fall within the NPPF definition. They need to have at least some core biodiversity elements in order to be designated, and in fact they are part of the Core Habitat Zone in the draft Local Nature Recovery Map being produced by EcoRecord. Also in most cases the SLINCs buffer and connect the more easily characterisable SINCS and SSSIs. Since Sir John Lawton's seminal report to government in 2010 it has been accepted that core areas of biodiversity need these buffer and connectivity areas if they are to survive. This has been at the root of the entire programme of nature improvement and nature recovery in Britain ever since.
Despite the core and buffering biodiversity elements which they represent, it would appear that no less than 29 of the draft housing allocation sites are SLINC sites. Building on these must represent a significant diminution in the connectivity of nature in the Black Country. A further number of sites allocated for development are potential sites of importance, not to mention those which are parts of the extant green belt.

Support

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 16840

Received: 26/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Mark Pickering

Number of people: 2

Representation Summary:

Peakhouse Farm - Sandwell
Hi Planners and Council members for the Black Country Plan
The following are our comments about the plan and we attach the requested comments form.
Thanks
[redacted]
Comments as follows:
Re Submissions to the Black Country Plan, Peak House Farm site
We support your decision not to include HIMORs proposed development in the Draft Black Country plan. HIMOR's proposal is for house building around the Peak House Farm site in Great Barr B43 and we request that protection of this site be honoured and that developers involved be asked to withdraw their plans.
We understand that planning application has been made to include Peak House farm and land in the triangle wetland site bordering Wilderness Lane/ Woodland Grove and Anderson Crescent. These have long been designated as Green Belt and our strong objections to development are in two parts.
Firstly, the proposed development on Peak House farm bordering Wilderness Lane will create many problems and we object to any development here. These problems include:
1. The name Wilderness Lane indicates that it is in fact a “lane” and it is really is narrow. The lane is often clogged with traffic when the Q3 and Grove Vale schools start and finish so much so that red route has been created. More houses feeding into the lane will exacerbate traffic problems.
2. There are only two exits from Wilderness Lane – one to the Grove Lane estate and the Newton Road and the other onto the main Walsall to Birmingham road, both of which are dual carrigeways. The Walsall Road exit leads onto the dual carrigeway that feeds the M6 motorway and there are massive queues at rush hour.
3. Extra house building on Peak House farm site will create enormous traffic problems as cars from new houses try to exit Wilderness Lane.
4. There isn't the infrastructure to support a large housing development. New housing creates a need for schools, doctors, entertainment etc.

5. Any development will have an dramatic effect on wildlife that use the fields, trees and hedgerows.
6. The farmland is part of a “Green Lung” with very old trees and hedgerows that form a break to continuous urbanisation from Walsall to Birmingham.
7. Government policy states the need to develop brown field sites and avoid green field sites such as Peak House Farm.
8. There are ancient hedgerows and a recent archaeoloical survey revealed evidence of a medieval moated farmhouse which needs preserving.

Secondly, the proposed development of the wetland site bordering Wilderness Lane, Woodland Grove and Anderson Crescent. This is a very special environment and is a Site of Local Importance for Nature (SLINC). Our objections to any development here include:
1. This is an ancient wetland site with ancient trees. This is and unusual and important site where trees grow in wetland. Given that government policy is to plant trees, then these existing trees should be preserved.
2. The wildlife in this wetland must be protected. It is a breeding ground for wildlife as people rarely visit the inaccessible site and it is overgrown so that it is a perfect environment for wildlife to thrive.
3. Frogs and newts thrive here and bats live in the trees. The bats fly around at dusk in the summer.
4. Owls roost in the trees and can be heard in the evenings.
5. Lesser spotted and green woodpeckers are attracted to the old trees.
6. Other birds that live here include blackbirds, throstles, tits, robins, wrens, goldcrests, goldfinches, nuthatch, greenfinch, chaffinch, crows, magpies and visits from buzzard and heron.
7. It is a haven for insects, including butterflies and dragonflies.
8. The woods and wetland is home to breeding foxes [redacted] .
Building on this site would be a desecration and against government policy to preserve Green Belt. This area has always been designated as Green Belt to prevent urban sprawl and provide green space for mental and physical health of inhabitants. It is a “green lung” to combat motorway pollution from the M6 nearby and dual carrigeway pollution.
We strongly object to development of the wetlands and the Peak House farm and support your decision not to include these areas in the Black Country Plan.
Your faithfully
[redacted]

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 17187

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Walsall Arboretum User Group

Representation Summary:

Policy ENVI -- Nature Conservation states
Development within the Black Country will safeguard nature conservation, inside and outside its
boundaries, by ensuring that: a) development will not be permitted where it would, alone or in
combination with other plans or projects, have an adverse impact on the integrity of an
internationally designated site, including Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), which are covered in
more detail in Policy ENV2; b) development is not permitted where it would harm nationally (Sites of
Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves) or regionally (Local Nature Reserves and
Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation) designated nature conservation sites; c) locally
designated nature conservation sites (Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation), important
habitats and geological features are protected from development proposals that could negatively
impact them; d) the movement of wildlife within the Black Country and its adjoining areas, through
both linear habitats (e.g. wildlife corridors) and the wider urban matrix (e.g. stepping-stone sites) is
not impeded by development; e) species that are legally protected, in decline, are rare within the
Black Country or that are covered by national, regional, or local Biodiversity Action Plans will be protected as far as possible when development occurs.

We contend that the planned development contravenes this policy.

Support

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 18280

Received: 04/10/2021

Respondent: Corbett Meadow Action Group

Agent: Mr Lance Cartwright

Representation Summary:

SUPPORT POLICY ENV 1 Nature Conservation and designation of Corbett Meadow (Dudley) as SLINC

The ecology of Meadow has been well documented in the past and its continued designation as Site of Local Interest for Nature Conservation is wholly justified.

However the Meadow may well be of even greater interest as revealed by recent informal surveys (for example, it is now thought, on good authority, to provide a habitat for the rare Hawthorn Jewel Beetle) and should be resurveyed with a view to elevating its status to a regionally significant Site of Interest for Nature Conservation.

Further, the site is part of the wider Coalbournebrook Valley and the myriad & linked habitats it provides warrants consideration of its designation as a Local Nature Reserve.

Comment

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 18429

Received: 07/10/2021

Respondent: Richard Brooks

Representation Summary:

Policy ENV 1 – with the recognition of the serious decline in the state of wildlife and biodiversity in this country, this should be strengthened significantly to give wildlife a much higher priority.
Similarly the Nature Recovery Network concept is vital, supported and expanded

Object

Draft Black Country Plan

Representation ID: 18575

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Dudley Labour Group

Agent: Councillor Qadar Zada

Representation Summary:

Nature conservation and other environmental considerations


The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in Europe and very recently, environmental experts have reiterated their concerns that the continuing loss of biodiversity in the UK is at crisis point and that expanding towns and cities through house building and road construction will exacerbate an evolving problem.


One of the stated aims of the BCP is to use the opportunity that additional housing provides to improve the environment. Given the views of experts on the causes of the loss of biodiversity, it is not certain how this is possible. Even the language used in the plan suggests one of
mitigation rather than improvement. For example, in reference to green belt development, the Black County Authorities have agreed a policy of
‘least harm’.

There are also several unanswered questions relating to trees with protection orders and if felled to make way for development, where they will be alternatively planted and the impact on habitats that could be destroyed at or near to the affected sites. In the case of several sites, it is obvious from the RAG rated assessments for each site, that in many cases, the assessment of the biodiversity at them is incomplete and therefore, these sites should not have been put forward. There is also reference to the Fens Pool Nature Reserve, an SSSI site at the heart of the borough, which is not proposed for development but is referred to in the context of the uncertainty that development of the borough will have on biodiversity at this site. This is of great concern for a site which is of significance to an area with pockets of high deprivation including poor health and for which there are plans to introduce a wildlife corridor and eventually attract green flag status to provide biodiversity and regeneration as a visitor attraction.