PROPOSED SCHOOL ROAD DEVELOPMENT – THE LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION IS OPEN

Message from Solihull Council


Residents and businesses are being asked to make final representations about Solihull’s Draft Submission Plan during a formal six-week period, beginning on Friday 30 October, before it is submitted for independent examination.
The grounds for making a representation relate to the soundness and legal compliance of the Solihull’s Local Plan – Draft Submission Plan. Solihull’s Local Plan will guide the development of the borough for the next decade, and beyond. It is the basis for future planning decisions as it creates a ‘blueprint’ for when and where major developments can take place, and where they shouldn’t take place. Interested parties should make their representations via the Local Plan Review page https://www.solihull.gov.uk/lpr of the Council website. For this stage there is a formal way of sending in a representation, which is explained in a short video available on the same page, alongside guidance notes.


The representations received as part of this consultation will be included in the final Plan submitted for the ‘Examination in Public’ (EiP), which is the final scrutiny before a plan can be adopted. The EiP will be overseen by a nominated Inspector appointed on behalf of the Secretary of State. Once the examination concludes, the Inspector will issue a report which will summarise the findings of their examination. If the Plan is found to be sound and legally compliant, the Council will then be allowed to adopt the Plan, or the Inspector may suggest that the Plan is modified.
The representation period will close on Monday 14 December.


Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning & Housing, said:
“We have now reached the stage where we must test whether people think our Draft Submission Plan is sound and legally compliant. “From the beginning we’ve put people and environment at the centre of the Plan.
“The Plan has been five years in the making. We have had three consultations, listened to people, engaged with local communities and businesses and received over 3,000 representations, and because of that we have amended it.
“It is now vital that as a Council we now move forward to get a Plan in place that will allow us to have control of deciding how development takes place in the future. “If we don’t, we leave ourselves at risk of planning by appeal, where developers go over our heads to government or planning inspectors. We need to control our destiny.
“We have strived to develop a Plan that will make Solihull a place that people will feel proud to live in, work in and invest in; which also addresses our climate change challenge.”


The six-week representation period opens on Friday 30 October 2020.People will be able to discuss the plan with Council officers at a number of virtual sessions which will take place in the coming weeks. More information on this will be provided in due course.


The Solihull Local Plan – Draft Submission Plan and relevant guidance can be viewed at https://www.solihull.gov.uk/lpr from Friday 30 October.

Solihull’s Draft Submission Local Plan Moves to the Next

Further to the announcement by the Parish Council on the 25th September 2020 on HHPC Facebook regarding the proposal by Solihull Council to remove land out of the green belt on School Road, Solihull Council’s Cabinet considered the latest stage of the Local Plan review at a meeting yesterday on Thursday 1 October 2020. During this meeting, Solihull Cabinet approved the recommendation to publish the plan and it will now be considered at an SMBC Full Council meeting on Tuesday 6 October 2020. If approved at this meeting, the Draft Submission Plan will then be published for a statutory period of six weeks. Interested parties will be invited to make representations relating to the soundness and legal compliance of the plan. The plan proposes approximately 90 homes on School Road, adjacent to the canal termed Sadlers Covey, and to also remove the washed over green belt which could potentially lead to two further, smaller scale, housing developments on School Road in the future. Please read the documentation (minutes and plans) that can be found using the link below and ensure you make representations during the consultation period should Solihull Council’s Full Cabinet approve the plan on 6th October 2020.

http://eservices.solihull.gov.uk/mgInternet/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=130&MId=8505&Ver=4&fbclid=IwAR2HCesvhSqpFtUDMXyqQ732eVay44GSvY3k0ClnnVR0tvVdXRXFz8GQpXI

The Parish Council of Hockley Heath had made representations to Solihull Council before the 6pm meeting on 1/10/2020 regarding the accuracy of the information listed for Hockley Heath. With reference to the document labelled Appendix A1, page 176, SMBC was advised that there was not a frequent bus service to Birmingham and the Post Office had closed.