Draft Black Country Plan

Object

Representation ID: 18377

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

Agent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

I'm Secretary of Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation and my Co-Signatory, Madeline Moorcroft is Chair of the same. Our objections are as follows:
We and fellow tenants and residents live in a densely-populated, deprived, inner area just north of the town centre and immediately off the busy, congested, polluting ring road; our estate comprises nearly 300 high- and low-rise flats, and we are surrounded by likewise tightknit terraced nineteenth-century streets, and we are dismayed to learn that the green space we do enjoy and need could be under threat from housing development under the Black Country Plan proposals.
Of particular concern is the prospect of losing the Sydenham Playing fields immediately north of the estate (bounded by Birch Street, Green Lane and Old Birchills), and - extraordinarily we are advised that even Reedwood Park could be a target for housing development.
We already have plenty of new housing (eg. the Caparo site now well under way, and 130 flats to be crammed on the small Green Lane Police Station site), and we would find even more housing being built on our precious green space, including the green corridor which is the Walsall Canal, quite unacceptable,
And, when it comes to land near the M6 (which is pretty loud even from Reedswood Park), for example on the former tip at Pouk Hill, these green space have to stay as a 'green lung' to absorb noise and air pollution - not to mention the potential risk of landfill gas - and where there are proposals for redevelopment for housing so close to the motorway, these should be rejected out of hand.

Object

Representation ID: 18378

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

Agent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

I'm Secretary of Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation and my Co-Signatory, Madeline Moorcroft is Chair of the same. Our objections are as follows:
We and fellow tenants and residents live in a densely-populated, deprived, inner area just north of the town centre and immediately off the busy, congested, polluting ring road; our estate comprises nearly 300 high- and low-rise flats, and we are surrounded by likewise tightknit terraced nineteenth-century streets, and we are dismayed to learn that the green space we do enjoy and need could be under threat from housing development under the Black Country Plan proposals.
Of particular concern is the prospect of losing the Sydenham Playing fields immediately north of the estate (bounded by Birch Street, Green Lane and Old Birchills), and - extraordinarily we are advised that even Reedwood Park could be a target for housing development.
We already have plenty of new housing (eg. the Caparo site now well under way, and 130 flats to be crammed on the small Green Lane Police Station site), and we would find even more housing being built on our precious green space, including the green corridor which is the Walsall Canal, quite unacceptable,
And, when it comes to land near the M6 (which is pretty loud even from Reedswood Park), for example on the former tip at Pouk Hill, these green space have to stay as a 'green lung' to absorb noise and air pollution - not to mention the potential risk of landfill gas - and where there are proposals for redevelopment for housing so close to the motorway, these should be rejected out of hand.

Comment

Representation ID: 43806

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

I've looked at the proposals as they might affect this ward. and the stand-out ones appear to me to be:

Coronation Road/Mob Lane, High Heath: I understand that you would have received numerous objections both from residents councillors, Combined Authority members and perhaps the MP also, so I will leave you to review the proposal in the light of what all these people have to say, and will comment in detail when the second-round consultation and the Examination in Public come round.

Comment

Representation ID: 43807

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

I shall restrict myself to comments on the Draft Plan as I would not wish to prejudice my position by way of a conflict of interest at some later stage

I've looked at the proposals as they might affect this ward. and the stand-out ones appear to me to be:

Coronation Road/Mob Lane, High Heath: I understand that you would have received numerous objections both from residents councillors, Combined Authority members and perhaps the MP also, so I will leave you to review the proposal in the light of what all these people have to say, and will comment in detail when the second-round consultation and the Examination in Public come round.

Grange Crescent, Shelfield: there has been a strong response led by a resident who has raised awareness, and I have hand-delivered some 30-plus consultation forms this afternoon

Barns Farm, Rushall; Barns Lane and surrounding streets have a long-standing issue with HGV traffic and with speeds of all traffic, with a regular incidence of accidents, so the idea of even a smallish patch of housing on green space given the existing issues on the local road network I do find worrying. Again, I would come to a view, and express it, at a later stage in
the process, should any proposal come forward but I think the existing issues do need flagging up now.

Green Lane, Shelfield: I have no detail on this, but assume it's a smaller site, but would be concerned that even a modest development would simply add to the nibbling away at green spaces that has been prevalent throughout so much of Walsall over the years, irrespective of the Draft Plan - for example at the nearby new development on the A461 opposite Woodbridge
Close.

Comment

Representation ID: 43808

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

General Comments

2. The Consultation: sorry to say, but the language used isn't all that accessible to many people, and people cannot be expected to wade through 730 or so page to find what they're looking for - so my experience is that awareness has been poor and many, many people don't
know what is being proposed at all!

I would suggest that consideration should be given to an extension of time, a further awareness campaign (and a bigger take-up of the tens of thousands of items of consultation material sitting unused in Room 9 of Walsall Council House)

Comment

Representation ID: 43809

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

General Comments
1. It seems to me that we are being forced into a substantial loss of Green Belt because the numbers the Government says we need to come up with are very high, and in my opinion needing to be reduced.

Comment

Representation ID: 45858

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Burrowes Street Tenant Management Organisation

General Comments
1. It seems to me that we are being forced into a substantial loss of Green Belt because the numbers the Government says we need to come up with are very high, and in my opinion needing to be reduced.