Planning (Walsall South)

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz) and the Minister for allowing me to make this brief contribution to the debate.

Mr Speaker, this discussion takes me back to a contribution that you made as a Back Bencher some years ago. There was a debate on how low-flying military helicopters were affecting horse riders, and you sagely warned the Minister that you were not going to go away. My hon. Friend’s contribution tonight has made it very clear to those developers that she is not going to go away either, and I will be standing right behind her. I am deeply impressed with the commitment she has shown to her constituents and mine in raising this important matter, which I hope the Minister will take seriously.

Hundreds of residents in West Bromwich East and Walsall South are opposing this application through the Beacon Action Group, led by the doughty campaigner Bob Winkle. The proposed development is contrary to all Government guidelines on the use of the green belt, including the national planning policy framework, and to local plans in the metropolitan boroughs of Sandwell and Walsall. Walsall council has already identified its housing needs for about the next decade and does not require the use of this prime green belt land. Sandwell council says that if the application as it stands is passed, it could set a dangerous precedent for development on green belt land, not just locally but nationally.

What is particularly concerning about this application is the manner in which the developers have failed to consult the community adequately. Indeed, in my view, they have misled them. They told local residents that English Heritage was in favour of the proposals, but that is not the case. They told Great Barr residents that local historian Peter Allen was in favour of the proposals to modify the dilapidated Great Barr hall, yet they did so without telling them that he had been enlisted as a consultant on the project. They also told local residents that it would lead to the restoration of Great Barr hall, but only in 10 years’ time, and in my view they have not adequately explained how they will pay for it. I just say to the Minister that this application has been a textbook example of how developers can alienate a community and propose to destroy the green belt in the name of profit. Local people believe the proposed application should never see the light of day.