Sunday 24 January 2016

Smith's Wood park project divides opinion

THE creation of a new "urban park" in Smith's Wood has divided opinion among local residents.
The Woodlands Green Park was created on a tract of open space between Chester Road and Windward Way.
The North Solihull Partnership said that the £90,000 development - which includes children's play equipment, improved pathways and more greenery - had transformed an overgrown and underused piece of land into an "attractive green space."
Councillor Tony Dicicco, cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said the project demonstrated the local authority's commitment to "making the most" out of green space.
The park was created in parallel with a new housing development a short distance away. The 27-home scheme, christened Mountford Rise, is set to be completed later this year.
However, some residents see the park project as a less than satisfactory substitute for the land which was taken for new homes.
This policy of requiring developers to pay for improvements of certain areas in exchange for allowing the release of other sites for housing has been utilised several times during the North Solihull Regeneration, although the "quality over quantity" principle continues to divide local people
Ricky Grinnell was among the residents who believe that the authorities are attempting to "con" local residents.
"Let's get it right , it was done because they used a larger area of land for housing around the corner," he wrote on Facebook.
However Kelly Frail was more supportive of the effort.
"They can't do right for doing wrong! Some people are never happy and moan about everything," she said.

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