BALSALL Common is set to increase by 60 per cent over the next 15 years, according to the Solihull draft Local Plan – and residents are being urged to have their say.
This large rural village lies at the heart of the West Midlands green belt known as the Meriden Gap, between Solihull and Coventry.
Berkswell and Balsall Parish Councils are seeking ideas on the future needs of their community.
This month they are asking residents for their ideas on what infrastructure they think should be prioritised as the population swells, in a new survey.
Ideas include:
- a community centre for entertainment, meeting rooms and sporting facilities
- the centre of Balsall Common
- the greenspace, outdoor areas and areas of ecological sustainability
- ways of coping with a increased demand for car parking and local road traffic
The Solihull draft plan has predicted more than 2,000 homes and around 5,000 more residents and made provision for a new primary school, changes to the catchment area for Heart of England School to allow for more local pupils, a bigger doctors’ surgery and a bypass around Balsall Common.
The two parish councils and ward borough councillors are working together to get some structure and priority around those ideas which have already been put to residents during the process.
Answers from the survey will help them to produce a draft plan which they “hope and expect” Solihull Council will include within the Local Plan, its plan for more housing and other development over the next two decades.
Here is a link to the survey for local residents above the age of 12: docs.google.com
The closing date is January 31 2020.
