Red flag raised over green space proposals

CONCERNS have been raised that “precious” patches of land in North Solihull could be built on.
Last month, Solihull Council set out plans to dispose of three sites at Clopton Crescent, Auckland Drive and Anglesey Avenue.
Councillor James Burn (Green, Chelmsley Wood) admitted that he was worried about the threat to the areas of open space.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, he feared that children could be deprived of places to play on in an already built-up area.
He described the Auckland Drive site, just next to Bedford House, as “the only scrap of green land” for local youngsters.
“When I think about what we’ve spoken about before about problems with obesity, the problems with health inequalities, particularly for children in North Solihull, I think from a public health perspective getting rid of that piece of land I find quite troubling.
“The same is true for the land off Clopton Crescent, which again is a playing field with a football pitch in the middle – which is one of the better used plots of land in the north.”
Coun Burn had also asked about the results of the public consultation, which was mentioned in a council report.
Arguing that previous discussions had been quite “fraught”, he was concerned that greater detail about residents’ responses wasn’t included in the document.
Coun Ian Courts, the cabinet member for managed growth, insisted that a lot of work had gone in to identifying suitable pieces of land.
“This hasn’t just popped up, this has been going over a number of months,” he said.
“You know, I’m under constant criticism for not providing affordable housing and it’s no good providing affordable housing miles away from where it’s needed.
“So these sites have come up and we have brought them forward on the basis here is an opportunity to have 50, 60 – or whatever the number is – affordable homes.
“I don’t think we can have our cake and eat it. If you want affordable homes, there is a price to be paid.”
Coun Bob Sleigh, Leader of Solihull Council, said that it was important to make clear that this was just the first stage of the process.
“We are not agreeing a planning application, we are not agreeing a development scheme, we are simply agreeing to a notice of our intention to dispose of this land as public open space.”