Property developer, Wain/Himor have renewed their attempt to build on the Peak House Farm land off Wilderness Lane. You can view details of the proposal and submit comments on it via the link below.
Ref: DC/23/68822 Proposed 150 dwellings, a countryside park and associated works

Himor’s 2020 proposal to build 1,000 houses on the site was not included in the Black Country Plan, and the site is still designated as unsuitable for housing by Sandwell Council.  However, the property developer are trying again, as Wain Estates, this time for an outline proposal to build 150 houses and a promise of a Countryside Park. An outline proposal only gives a general idea of what developers want to do on a site, with the detail being decided later as Reserved Matters. Once they have approval developers often then come back with plans for more intensive developments citing viability as the reason for the increase. (This is why we feel Conservative Councillors were wrong to vote with Labour in allowing development on the Brandhall Green Space in Oldbury. At the very least, they should have asked for the decision to be deferred until more details were provided.)

While Sandwell needs more suitable housing, it needs to be built in areas that have the appropriate infrastructure to support additional housing, and the borough has plenty of brownfield sites that could be used instead of allowing encroachment into the Green Belt.

We therefore feel this proposal should be rejected for the following reasons.

• The site is not included in Sandwell’s Housing Allocation List for the Sandwell Local Plan as it is considered not suitable for housing.
• It is a Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC) in the Green Belt, and an important wildlife corridor.
• The hedgerows are protected by Historic Hedgerows legislation.
• The remains of a medieval moated farmhouse are thought to be in one of the fields.
• It is farmland and, as we have seen over the last couple of years, the country need to become more self-sufficient in domestic agriculture, not less.
• Local drainage is already at capacity and struggling to cope with current demand, resulting in localised flooding.