‘Give town veto on green belt homes’ Mitchell: Sutton Coldfield council must have final say

SUTTON Coldfield Town Council should be given a chance to veto plans for 6,000 new homes on green belt land, Ministers have suggested.

Local Government Minister Gavin Barwell backed calls from local MP Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) for the council to have a role in the decision.

But Birmingham City Council says it has already carried out a full consultation about the controversial plans.

Mr Mitchell has continued his campaign against proposals for 6,000 homes near the Sutton Coldfield bypass at Peddimore and Langley, by raising the issue in the House of Commons as MPs discussed proposed changes to planning laws.

He said that Birmingham City Council, which is due to make a final decision on the proposal in January, should be required to consult Sutton Coldfield Town Council first.

Mr Mitchell told Mr Barwell, the Minister responsible for housing: “We have the largest town council in the country. It is totally and unanimously opposed to the development, but it has not even been consulted.

He asked: “Will the junior Minister commit to going back to Birmingham City Council and suggesting – I do not think he has the power to force the council to do this – that common decency expects it to go back to the 24 elected members of the largest town council in the country, formally consult them and listen to what they have to say?”

Mr Barwell told him: “Since he has raised it with me directly, I am happy to say that I would expect local authorities to consult their parish and town councils.

“I have no power to direct them to do so, as he alluded to in his speech, but there should clearly be consultation with large town councils and local communities should be consulted as part of the local plan process.”

But Birmingham City Council pointed out that it had conducted a full consultation between November 2012 and January 2013, before Sutton Coldfield town council existed.

The first elections for the town council were held in May 2016.

Mr Mitchell argues Birmingham City Council should recognise Sutton’s distinct identity rather than treating it as a suburb of Birmingham, and it is wrong to build new housing in the town if it is not backed by the town’s own” representatives.

The proposed homes are part of the Birmingham Development Plan which will see a total of 50,000 new homes built.

Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid (Con, Bromsgrove) has lifted a block on the scheme, allowing it to go ahead.

But Mr Mitchell said last week that this contradicted the Conservative Party’s general election manifesto promise to protect the green belt, and is likely to breed cynicism about politicians.

Attacking his fellow Tory in the House of Commons, Mr Mitchell said: “The fact that people behave in that way is the reason why we have seen the election of President-elect Trump in America, the growth of Nigel Farage in this country, and the growth of the people versus the establishment.”

Speaking after the debate, he said: “Democratic decency now means that Birmingham City Council should feel duty-bound to consult Sutton Coldfield town council and to listen to what the 24 elected members say.

“We are, after all, the largest town council in the country and this is what democracy is about.”

Common decency expects it to go back to the 24 elected members of the largest town council in the country