'Money has not been wasted', Solihull Council leader says in green belt row
The leader of Solihull Council is standing firm against his opponents ahead of a potential showdown on the ‘local plan’ row. Ian Courts says he is not prepared to lose green belt to build more homes and has come out fighting against opposition councillors who claim money has been wasted during the saga.
As recently reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service the housing blueprint - which once adopted becomes the main consideration in deciding planning applications - has been delayed since 2022 as the council and planning inspectorate have been at loggerheads. At the centre of the dispute has been the inspectorate’s view around where around 2,000 extra homes - needed to help meet the need for housing from the wider Birmingham area before the end of the decade - should be built.
But in a dramatic twist earlier this month inspectors wrote to the Conservative-run council saying the plan needed to be withdrawn. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service Coun Courts said: “The inspectorate wasn’t satisfied with the numbers we had at one particular site.
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“I still disagree. I’m being asked to go out to my people and say you have got to suffer another 1,700 homes - about the size of Balsall Common. For me to agree to that would be wrong. I’m being criticised for testing the inspectorate’s patience, the alternative is to give way.
“I’m not prepared to sacrifice 1,700 homes on green belt without a fight. I don’t think residents would expect me to do otherwise.” Earlier this month tempers flared in a cabinet meeting which was examining the council’s finance when the local plan was mentioned.
The leader told Councillor Ade Adeyemo to “check his facts” during one testy exchange. Following that meeting Coun Adeyemo said: “The Conservatives have wasted a lot of valuable taxpayers' money because they thought they knew better than the planning inspectorate and everyone else. The Conservatives’ arrogance and complacency will ultimately cost Solihull taxpayers dearly.”
But the leader is adamant money has not been wasted. "At the last cabinet meeting they (the opposition) raised we have wasted £1.3m,” he said.
“I find it disingenuous for it to be said I’m wasting money when six months back the Government said you should not be sacrificing green belt. What am I supposed to do?
“What would I be accused of doing if I said ‘don’t worry I’m not interested in what the Government is doing, I’m going to chop up green belt’. The numbers in any plan we drew up were never going to be enough to satisfy the current requirement from Government, which means we are going to do this plan again.
“There is no way we can avoid additional expenditure due to the change in policy. It (evidence gathered in local plan process) might need refreshing. There will be costs but it is not suddenly the taxpayer is going to get a big bill.
“We are very careful in not wasting money. My residents expect me to do the best job I can in protecting their interests, and I will do it. I will challenge the nonsense I heard.”
A decision on whether to withdraw the plan is set to be made at the next full council meeting. That is set to take place at the Civic Suite on October 8.
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