Valerie meets with local residents in Caldmore and Great Barr

On Friday 15 January Valerie went on a walkabout in Walsall South and met with constituents who raised issues from street cleaning to planning.

Valerie said: ” I met with local residents and Cllr Ditta the local councillor in the Co-Op Pharmacy. I am grateful to the Pharmacy for allowing the resident to stay inside. We discussed a variety of issues about the area including some residents not leaving their wheelie bins on the pavement. Cllr Ditta reminded the residents that he had arranged for a litter warden and that had improved the area. Sometimes vans unloaded in front of the stores even though there is unloading space behind. Shopkeepers should encourage the vans not to park on the pavements. I am forwarding the list of issues to the Council.”

“I then visited the two sites at Great Barr for which a planning application was submitted for 59 homes. A number of these homes, almost all of which have 4 or more bedrooms, include swimming pools, cinemas and games rooms in their basements. I am concerned that the application was submitted just before Christmas not allowing residents enough time to look at the application. It is proposed that these homes will be built in the Green Belt, some on farmland and there is no allocation for affordable homes. Also there has been no consultation.”

The plans show the area around St Margaret’s Church will cause traffic congestion, change the character of the area and is against the local development plan. Residents are quite rightly upset. There is no housing need for these luxury homes in the Borough and there are sites with planning permission which have not been built on.”

The photograph shows a mosaic by local Walsall resident Jane Mackay in Caldmore.