Your June 2024 Newsletter from the Neighbourhood Forum
We are continuing to raise our profile and reach across the KDBH area with a high level of engagement coming from attendance at local community events. Forum membership has increased by over 18% in the past twelve months which is most encouraging. A huge thank you to all who have joined as members.
In this newsletter you’ll find useful updates and information on:
- The Local Plan
- Neighbourhood Plan update
- Community actions
- Planning applications
- NCIL Community Projects Funding
- An invitation to join the Forum
- We need you! Do you have the skills the Forum are looking for?
- Local Plan
The Local Plan
On planning matters, unfortunately there is no progress we are able to report at present in respect of the Solihull Local Plan. The Plan effectively remains in abeyance although the Council has recently written again to the Inspectors in an attempt to explore ‘pragmatic solutions’ for a resumption, without the need to identify further Green Belt land releases. A reply from the Inspectors is still awaited although given the situation with the forthcoming general election it would be surprising if a response was received before then. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will let you know as soon as we hear anything.
Neighbourhood Plan Update
As you may be aware, the Neighbourhood Plan for KDBH was approved in April 2019 with a 96% approval vote at referendum. We have recently reviewed the entire Plan in detail and opened initial consultations with the Council, members and residents. We have already completed a comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment, available to view on our website and whilst we have some outstanding items awaited (including housing, Environmental and Habitats Regulation assessments), once these are complete, we expect to progress to the first formal consultation stage. Timing relative to the Local Plan Examination, referred to above, will need to be taken into account.
This clearly demonstrates that our Neighbourhood Plan very much remains a ‘living’ document, subject to regular review and improvement and is not something to be filed away in a drawer gathering dust until the next review is required. For example, you may have noticed that we always reference specific NP policies when responding to local planning applications.
Community Actions
We have also undertaken an audit on the current state of play on Community Actions, which are set out in Appendix 4 of the Neighbourhood Plan. A number of actions are being progressed, including resident surveys on mobile phone and broadband usage as well as roads, footpaths and signs and cycling issues as well as an audit of our heritage assets, of which we are fortunate to still have a great many remaining.
The Council has just launched its own Borough wide review of such assets so if anyone has any comments on buildings or other local features of interest that they feel should be protected then please respond to the Council. A list of current heritage assets locally is detailed in the Neighbourhood Plan (Appendix 5).
Planning Applications
St Johns Way Shopping Centre
A key outstanding matter has been the applicant entering into a S106 agreement with the Council, including agreement on the trigger point for payment of the affordable housing contribution, where the applicant had sought to pay the contribution only when all dwellings were occupied. A negotiated position, where the applicant offered to make the contribution when the 50% of dwellings were occupied was recently considered and deferred by the Planning Committee with the request that a further improved position be negotiated with the applicant. The formal outcome of this negotiation is awaited.
We also understand several apartment owners remain in situ where agreement with them is yet to be reached. Agreement will be required before any major refurbishment of the site can be undertaken.
Langfield Road, Knowle
An amended resubmission of planning permission for 15 dwellings has been refused. Reasons for refusal relate to layout, scale and design out of character, adverse impact on Local Wildlife Site and failure to consider availability of lower flood risk sites. The Forum responded in detail to the original and resubmitted applications and we await to see whether the applicant will appeal against the latest refusal.
Neighbourhood CIL (NCIL) Community Projects Funding
We are expecting to hear, hopefully within the next few weeks, on funding pots available to be used for Neighbourhood CIL (NCIL) infrastructure projects to be used to offset the adverse effects of development specifically in the Knowle and Dorridge (including Bentley Heath) Wards.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for good news so that we can build on the success of previous years where projects totalling over £200,000 have been delivered, specifically due to the fact we have an approved Neighbourhood Plan in place, providing tangible benefits to our community, .
Join the Forum – it’s FREE
Are you a member of the KDBH Neighbourhood Forum rather than a visitor to our website? If not, and you live or work in the KDBH area you can join for Free We would be delighted to have you on board and you will receive regular newsletter updates on our activities and matters that affect your local community.
As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, we are continuing to build on our community engagement in the KDBH area. If you have skills related to the following specific areas:
- Web support
- IT
- Marketing & communications
If you can spare a little time, and are interested in helping us to shape and put together Forum Community Events or support the important background work of the Forum, then please drop us a short email with your contact details and we’ll be in touch (kdbhforum@gmail.com).
We are a very friendly dedicated group who are passionate about making sure new development in our community is appropriate and that our three villages are the best they can be for now and for future generations to come. You can play an important and exciting part in shaping that future!