'Once you lose it, it doesn’t come back': Walsall residents fight green belt homes plan

A packed public meeting – with dozens standing listening outside – was held at St Michael the Archangel church in Rushall which saw people reiterate their desire to see the Calderfields West spot removed from the proposed Black Country Plan.

The ‘Save Our Green Belt Alongside Walsall Arboretum’ group said the land was too valuable to lose and said they will lobby the local authority to get it removed from the plan.

Walsall Council said it is currently reviewing consultation replies received last autumn. A further consultation on the next stage of the plan will be held later this year.

Speakers at the meeting on Tuesday said more than 3,000 had signed a petition against the proposals. They added that Dudley Council had removed two proposed sites and urged Walsall to follow suit.

Resident Bobbi Owen, from the ‘Save Our Green Belt Alongside Walsall Arboretum’ group, said: “I’m overwhelmed by the response we had to the public meeting.

“We’ve had people standing outside for two and a half hours. They are passionate about saving the green belt land alongside Walsall Arboretum.

“Walsall Arboretum is used by a million visitors a year and this view just lends itself to the health and wellbeing of people of Walsall. It is too important to sacrifice when we can use brownfield sites.”

Gerald Kells, nearby resident and member of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said there was no need for the homes on the site and added the site hadn’t been properly assessed.

He said: “This is a special site, it needs special treatment. If Walsall is going to drop any site it should drop this one. It doesn’t need those extra houses and it can do it.

” I don’t believe they need the houses and CPRE particularly will be one of the bodies arguing at the inquiry. I don’t believe the exceptional circumstances are there to remove it from the green belt.

“The best time to get this site out of the plan is now. And that is in the hands of your councillors and those they are talking to across the Black Country.

“Following the consultation there will be a public examination which will be attended by a fleet of developers all saying why this land is desperately needed.

“Will Walsall Council vote to remove this site from the plan? That’s what we need to happen. We need them to put pressure onto other people.

“This site is important, it is valued and there are good reasons for Walsall Council to say this site is not going forward into the plan because it cannot be justified and it would bring too much harm to a valuable asset for the community.”

Local historian Mike Glasson discussed the variety of birds, wildlife, plant and flora species on the land while Fiona Macmillan, of the Walsall Arboretum User Group also discussed its value to park visitors.

Walsall Labour group leader Aftab Nawaz said: “The last time there was an application on Calderfields, I wholeheartedly voted against it.

“My view is it shouldn’t have made it on to the list in the first place and now it’s on there, people need to do as much as they can to get it off the list.

“If Dudley Council can look at the list and say, ‘these two here are really important for our community and so we want them taken off the list’, surely our council can do the same and say Calderfields is so important to us.

“There is such a unique value to Calderfields that I don’t think everyone fully understands. Once you lose it, it doesn’t come back.

“The premise they’ve used and this idea they are going to have many buildings on Calderfields to meet the housing need is false because it will be big houses that are very expensive with a brilliant view overlooking the Arboretum – that’s why people will buy them.

“They are not going to fill it up with blocks of flats to house lots of people. It will be for wealthy people. Last time, they wanted a gated community there so nobody to come in.”

A petition against the proposal has so far generated around 3,000 signatures.

A Walsall Council spokesperson said: “In Dudley both Guys Lane, Lower Gornal and Wollaston Farm grazing land have been withdrawn by Dudley Council as the landowners.

“A landowner of a site may withdraw their submission. The Calderfields West site is not owned by the council.

“We are currently reviewing the representation received at regulation 18 consultation last autumn. In August to September 2022 we expect to consult on the draft publication regulation 19 version of the plan.

“The council will approve the draft publication regulation 19 version of the plan in the summer, the dates for which are likely to be confirmed after the May elections. The outcomes from the consultation, along with further evidence gathering, will inform the next version of the Black Country Plan – called the Publication Plan.

“The Publication Plan will be published late summer/autumn 2022 when all four Black Country councils will be asked to approve for consultation.”

Under the draft Black Country Plan, it is proposed Walsall provides enough land to build an 13,344 new houses up to 2039, with 5,418 of those on sites currently classed as green belt.