Plan for 54 homes criticised as councillor wants ‘tenure blind’ approach across the entire project – set to number than 5,500 properties
Land off Signal Hayes Road in Walmley where a new 54-home housing development, the first of many at the Langley site, has been proposed in a formal planning application(Image: Google Maps )
The first full planning application for a housing development on a former greenbelt site has been criticised for having ‘too many affordable homes’.
Plans have been submitted by Living Space Housing Limited for 54 homes on land at the corner of Signal Hayes Road and Fox Hollies Road in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.
It is the first formal application for homes on the Langley site, a huge swathe of former green belt land which will eventually see more than 5,500 homes built.
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The first plot is bordered by a garden centre, a scattering of homes and agricultural land. Living Space Housing is proposing all 54 homes will be ‘affordable’.
They would comprise four one-bedroom flats, 22 two-bedroom houses, 23 three-bed houses and five four-bed properties on what is currently agricultural land.
Developer Living Space Housing’s proposed planning layout for a 54-home development – the first of man at the 5,500-home Langley development on the edge of Sutton Coldfield (Image: Living Space Housing)
But the proposal met with criticism from Walmley and Minworth city councillor Ken Wood – unusually for having ‘too many affordable homes’.
He was keen to point out he supported affordable housing – but not in the way proposed.
He and the Langley consultative group also questioned whether the standard of the development would be ‘exemplar’ – of a high standard, saying the proposals did not meet the grade. Coun Wood also said too many homes were planned on the plot.
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Coun Wood (Cons) said: “This development is by one of the independents.
“It came completely out of the blue and is for 54 affordable homes.
“My feeling is the whole aim of Langley was to have the affordable housing, 35 per cent, across the development.
“What you don’t want is them all in one place. Fifty-four affordable houses clumped together.”
Coun Wood said the streets at Langley should be ‘tenure blind’ – meaning anyone driving through the area should not be able to tell what was or was not affordable housing.
He said: “Our desire is to have the affordable housing pepper-potted across the development. Every developer to have 35 per cent of their homes as affordable.”
Having them all in one location could lead to people being ‘stigmatised’, he said.
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Coun Wood also criticised the number of homes proposed, saying it was ‘not too clever’.. A supplementary planning document said there should be ten to 25 dwellings per hectare (dph) in the area, with the outline planning application saying 25 to 60 dph, with an average of 25 to 40 dph.
The developers said the homes would be 29 dph, saying: “Whilst the density is higher than the density sought in the Parklands area of the Langley SPD, it is in line with the average density indicated in the outline planning application.”
The loss of habitat was another concern.
There would be a 17.67 per cent loss of hedgerows to ‘facilitate the development’ – an issue raised previously, particularly by Coun Richard Parkin.
A biodiversity net gain of ten per cent will be ‘secured through an off-site habitat provider’, the developers said.
They said the development would be ‘high-quality’ and with a ‘strong identity’.
They added: “The sympathetic layout will provide a significant contribution to the growing sense of place in the new Langley settlement, with new connections provided to enhance connectivity and legibility.
Planning application 2024/08099/PA is now subject to public consultation and comments must be made by June 25.