Plans for 75 affordable homes in Solihull will go before councillors next week. Stonewater, one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, is behind the scheme proposing to develop green belt land on the edge of Meriden.
Council documents said the development would provide a mix of social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership homes “from one-bedroom maisonettes to four-bedroom houses”. Artist impressions included in the application show the types of homes proposed and the size of the site planned for the land at Maxstoke Lane on the northern edge of Meriden.
There were no objections from those consulted, including Meriden Parish Council, West Midlands Fire Service and Birmingham Airport. Officers recommended the scheme be given the go-ahead, saying although the land was green belt “the site is identified as a potential allocation for residential development in the emerging Local Plan Review for up to 100 dwellings”.
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Their report said: “The applicant has demonstrated very special circumstances exist to clearly outweigh the harm caused to the green belt in this location.” Officers add: “The borough has a chronic shortfall of affordable housing delivery”.
But it was unclear if the scheme would win the backing of Solihull Council’s planning committee given the backdrop of a previous commitment to protecting the green belt. In a recent debate on the local plan Conservative Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, the authority’s cabinet member for planning, said: “We are not prepared to give up green belt for an extra 1,700 homes.”
The recommendation is for approval subject to conditions and the completion of a section 106 agreement – a legally-binding obligation between the council and developers. That would require Stonewater to pay £135,354 to help build a new pedestrian crossing point on Birmingham Road near the site, which would be installed prior to residents moving in.
The application will go before Solihull Council ’s planning committee at a meeting on Wednesday, (May 15) – the first held since the local elections. The meeting, taking place in the Civic Suite, begins at 6pm and is open to the public.
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