Plans for 150 homes on green belt rejected

Proposals to build 150 homes on green-belt land in the West Midlands have been thrown out by planners.

The huge project floated by Wain Estates was earmarked for a site off Wilderness Lane in Great Barr.

Sandwell Council said such development was "inappropriate" and "harmful", adding the authority would not support the destruction of trees, hedges and plants in one of the area’s most important green spaces.

The homes would have been built on nearly 10 acres of land designated as an important site for conservation. 

"There are a significant number of alternative sites outside of the green belt with less harmful impacts on biodiversity that could accommodate the applicant’s proposal," the council said.

The new houses would have taken up about 15% of the 67-acre site and the remaining space would have been mostly left alone and turned into a countryside park.

The developer said the plan would have helped address a "chronic shortage" of homes across Sandwell as the local authority had stated it only had enough land for housing to meet demand for the next 18 months – far below the five years for which it should be able to provide.

The Black Country Plan, to set out where up to 76,000 homes would have been built across Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall by 2039, has since been scrapped.

Sandwell Council is working on its own plan, which is likely to carry over some of the aborted work.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]