Caroline Spelman, MP for Meriden has reacted angrily to the devastating news that the Borough of Solihull will be the location for 20,000 new houses. Today the Government Office for the West Midlands has announced that space for 20,000 new homes must be found in the Borough.
Mrs Spelman said: “This is devastating news and I am fearful that it will mean losses of whole swathes of Green Belt across the area as I just don’t know where else house numbers of this magnitude could go. The announcement makes a mockery, yet again, of the term ‘consultation’. With our local council indicating that we can only accommodate 7,600 houses, but the Government tripling that number, I question just why did it waste taxpayers money to consult with key stakeholders.
“I have continually fought to protect the Meriden Gap that gives our area so much of its character and I am now not going to let it be ruined by ill-thought through Government plans. This is yet another example of public trust being undermined.
“The Government should have taken this opportunity to use the Regional Spatial Strategy housing plans to regenerate areas of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country, not build more houses which, because of land values, could be far too expensive for many families to buy. A sensible, measured and sustainable approach that I, along with other stakeholders put forward has just been completely ignored.
“To put things into perspective, 20,000 more houses is equivalent to a town the size of Lichfield being build or ten villages the size of Dickens Heath. This just beggars belief.”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Caroline Spelman, Housing, Meriden
