Torrent of objections to controversial Amblecote housing scheme
Controversial plans to build a housing estate on treasured grazing fields excluded from the Black Country Plan have been met with a torrent of objections.
Charles Church Homes and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust have submitted plans for 84 homes on Corbett Meadow – the last piece of undeveloped land in Amblecote.
The site, next to the Corbett Hospital on the outskirts of Stourbridge, looked to have been saved after it was not included in last year's draft version of the Black Country Plan.
But developers have now formally submitted proposals to Dudley Council for part of the site, which sits off Vicarage Road.
A design and access statement says the scheme – dubbed Amblecote Grange – aims to provide 84 homes (including 25 per cent affordable homes) as well as "comprehensive landscaping, play area, new public open spaces alongside a sustainable drainage strategy, and improvements to the established vehicular access off Vicarage Road".
Plans to develop the site have long been met with opposition, as it was said to have been given to the people of Amblecote in the 19th century to be used for medical and recuperation purposes.
The scheme has been opposed by residents, including members of the Save the Corbett Meadow Action Group.
They claim the development would get rid of the last green space in the area, cause environmental damage, put a strain on local services and increase congestion to unbearable levels.
One objection letter says: "Apart from the loss of an invaluable green 'lung' and the substantial ecological harm this will bring to the area – including worsening traffic/pollution issues – it flies in the face of John Corbett's original gift to the people of Amblecote and Stourbridge 130 years ago."
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has said it is "required" to sell the land so funds can be redirected into patient care.
