Walsall councillors have resolved to challenge plans to build 355 homes on green belt land at Stonnall Road, describing the proposal as “horrendous”. The developer, Ashberry Strategic Land Ltd, has appealed after the council delayed its decision, meaning a government planning inspector will now determine the application.
At the planning committee meeting on 1 October, officers recommended refusal due to unresolved concerns over highway access, increased traffic, and inadequate pedestrian and cycle links. The site is also classified as inappropriate development on protected green belt land.
The proposed development spans five fields between Stonnall Road and Lazy Hill Road, regarded by Walsall Council as some of the borough’s “best and most versatile agricultural land”. Both David Smith, chair of the campaign group Stop the Build on Aldridge Green Belt, and local ward councillor Christine Edwards spoke out against the plans. No representatives from the applicant or supporters attended the meeting.
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Councillor Edwards emphasised the potential damage, saying: “I cannot stress enough how harmful this development will be to the openness of the green belt. This is some of the best and most versatile farmland in the borough which has grown a variety of crops year-on-year. It could be lost under bricks and tarmac forever.”
Currently, Walsall Council is allocating several large green belt sites for housing to meet Labour’s targets. The Stonnall Road site has been earmarked for 363 homes in both Reform and Conservative draft local plans. However, David Holloway pointed out the council’s current stage in the process gives the allocation “little or minimal weight”.
Councillor Aftab Nawaz moved a refusal motion, stating: “If this application had come before the committee, it would be a horrendous proposal amounting to destruction and sabotage of our green belt in Walsall, and I would not support it. If we have allocated this land for housing in the draft proposals, we will face more applications like this. I propose the committee would have refused it due to inappropriate development, access problems, and harm to the area’s openness.”
Councillors unanimously voted in favour of refusing the development.