Housebuilder submits revised plans for golf course redevelopment
A leading housebuilder has submitted revised proposals to build hundreds of new homes on the site of a former Birmingham golf course.
Bloor Homes pulled the previous plans for the North Worcestershire Golf Club in Northfield in February after the scheme was criticised by planning officers at Birmingham City Council.
The 32.35ha site, bounded by Frankley Beeches Road, Hanging Lane, Elan Road, Josiah Road and Tessall Lane, closed at the end of March last year.
The original proposals involved the demolition of the former club house and the construction of up to 1,000 new homes, together with new public open space, a primary school, multi-use community hub, new access points and associated infrastructure.
However, the scheme attracted widespread opposition for its size, impact on local infrastructure and schools, loss of open space and a likely increase in traffic volumes.
The housebuilder had offered to create 9.73ha of new public open space to compensate for the loss of a large amenity space. An ecology park would have included new wetland areas, grassland, woodland and informal recreation space.
An all-weather artificial sports pitch and equipped children’s play areas were also offered as part of the scheme, although this was criticised as being inadequate in terms of the amenity being lost to the homes.
Bloor had also pledged space for a two-form primary school to help ease the burden on surrounding schools, while the separate community hub could accommodate a church, meeting rooms, GP surgery and changing facilities for the sports pitch.
However, these were again deemed insufficient to compensate for the impact of the proposals.
The council’s education department said the development was likely to generate the need for 38 nursery aged pupils, 263 primary aged pupils and 188 secondary aged pupils, and the offer of a two-form primarily school would not meet demand.
The new application (below) proposes a less dense development but still up to 950 homes, some of which would be affordable housing.
The two-form primary school and community hub proposals remain from the original plan and have been supplemented by four access points, landscaping, sports provision and an ecology park, internal footpaths and cycleways.
The net developable residential area has been reduced from 20.62ha to 19.40ha, hence a reduction in the number of homes.
The amount of green space has been increased from 9.73ha to 10.95ha, while the residential parcel of land towards the southern central section of the site has been removed and replaced by a new area of public open space.
A proposal for a 3G sports pitch has been removed from the scheme in favour of an off-site location. The green corridor surrounding the brook running through the site has been widened.
Bloor Homes’ plans for the North Worcestershire Golf Club
