Rejected green belt home would have ‘set precedent’

PLANS to build a four-bedroom home in Solihull’s green belt have been thrown out by councillors, amid warnings from planning officials that the project would set “a very dangerous precedent”.

The scheme wanted to build a detached house where a barn had once stood, in Windmill Lane, Dorridge.

It had been referred to the Solihull Council’s planning committee because the applicant is related to Meriden’s MP, Dame Caroline Spelman.

Ellie Spelman had told the meeting that she had owned the site for two years, and said there was a chance to enhance a “previously developed and now damaged” piece of land.

“I am not a property developer and this is a proposal which will allow me to stay in the area and remain in the community, from whom I have received many letters of support,” she said. “The remains of the barn are unattractive and brambles are prevalent across the site. It attracts anti social behaviour and, contrary to the officer’s report, it visually detracts from the area.”

Old maps confirm that there had been a barn on the site for omore than 200 years and at one time it had been a plant nursery, supplying nearby Packwood House with shrubs and trees.

But planning officers argued that there was “very little” of the old structure remaining and the scheme would amount to a brand-new development in the greenbelt.

Cllr Richard Holt (Con, Blythe) said that the plans did not meet the very special circumstances required for approval and would harm the area.

“When I went to site today, I was struck by how open the site is, adjacent to open fields and the site being next to a public footpath, used by local people. Green belt is what we preserve here in Solihull, it’s what makes us a great place to live.”

The scheme was rejected by five votes to three.