Battle looms over estate plan for brickworks site Neighbours have fought housing development for 40 years
A40-YEAR stalemate over plans to redevelop an old Birmingham brickworks has sparked a new backlash from neighbours.
A new proposal has been submitted to build nearly 200 homes on the old Nocks site in, Holly Lane, Erdington.
Nearby residents have fought the plans for decades over concerns the site is heavily contaminated from its use as a landfill.
And now fears have been sparked again after Persimmon Homes – which has already obtained permission to build on the plot – submitted new plans to Birmingham City Council with a ‘revised remediation strategy’.
Tory group leader Cllr Rob Alden (Cons, Erdington) has raised concerns over the years.
He said: “This site, a former unlicensed rubbish tip, reportedly had medical and toxic waste dumped in it. When planning permission was finally given, against our objections after many enquiries, a lot of planning conditions were placed on the site to protect residents.
“It is therefore concerning to see a completely new application come forward to try and avoid doing planning conditions placed on the site to protect residents.
“It is also disappointing this appli- cation was submitted during the Christmas period, no doubt hoping residents wouldn’t notice. I urge everyone to submit their views to the council on the site asap.”
There have been around half-adozen unsuccessful applications to build housing on the 14-acre site since 1980, which were either reject- ed or withdrawn. Permission was finally obtained by another developer in 2008 and then Persimmon had their own plans approved five years later.
Last year the firm submitted a more detailed scheme for 200 homes but Birmingham City Council has yet to make a decision on it. Persim- mon’s latest plans are for 194 homes. Application documents state that since the previous plans were submitted “further information has been forthcoming from further site investigation and as a consequence of revisions to best practice and policy dealing with ground investigation and remediation”.
It adds: “As a result of both of these aspects, a revised remediation strategy has been proposed taking account of contemporary standards.
“There has clearly been a ten-year period in between when the approved remediation scheme was consented and the current planning proposals have emerged, and even longer since the initial site investigation and gas monitoring was undertaken (2004-2007).
“It is also notable that landfill ceased at the site in the region of 40 years ago and as a consequence levels of gas generation will have reduced.
“Recent monitoring suggests that the production of landfill gas at the site ceased several years ago.”
The latest scheme features 162 houses and two separate blocks accommodating a combined 32 apartments and access would be from a new roundabout at the junction of Holly Lane and Hollydale Road.
Persimmon said the proposal will ‘draw a line under a series of false starts’.