The Lickey Hills Society

Statement regarding the development of the Rover Car Plant

Members who live in the Lickey Hills area will have seen ‘The Preferred Option’ for the future of the Longbridge site in ‘Future 4 Longbridge’ News Update – Issue three – February 2007. Having examined carefully the Preferred Option, the Lickey Hill Society responded to the proposal. The summary below is intended to give members the gist of our points particularly relating to those parts within the Society's area.

Residential Land
We support the idea of housing development on the site of the East Works. The Area Action Plan (AAP) states that up to 700 new dwellings will be built on the old East Works site, however, we believe that there should be a mixture of housing tenures, eg; provision for first-time buyers and for the elderly, small houses and bungalows and possibly some sheltered housing, with appropriate design and density for the location. 700 new dwellings will need supporting infrastructure, roads, bus service to minimise traffic, shops, a new primary school accessible on foot, etc, the AAP is vague and offers no concrete proposals. Ideally the Society would like to see pupils walking to their school – the ‘walking bus’. If a new school is to be built on the site, it could act as a focus for the community.

Transport/Line of A38 road
We are disappointed at the dropping of the previously considered option to re-align the A38 through the West Works site. This would have resulted in one major road junction where the A38 meets Longbridge Lane and would also have helped separate through-traffic from local traffic visiting the proposed new Mixed Use Core area/town centre on the site of the North Works.

The Society continues to support the idea of developing and extending a Park and Ride Scheme – ‘a network of quality bus services’ based on Longbridge Station. For this to succeed there needs to be a regular and reasonably priced train service to Birmingham city centre / New Street Station. This requires extensive, safe car parking provision and integration of rail with existing bus services providing access to the railway station, additional bus services linking areas currently not served – example; the area of Cofton Hackett, and upgraded bus survives to Frankley and Rubery Village. Ideally the Society would support a re-opening of the railway line to Frankley although the option of a light railway connection seems to have been discounted in the preferred option despite a glossy photograph of a light railway on the promotional material. Happily the idea of the Longbridge Link Road across Green Belt land appears to have been abandoned in favour of improvements to Longbridge Lane and the A38 Bristol Road South.

Local Village Centres
The Society has been concerned for years at the lack of real centres in both Cofton and Longbridge.

We support the development of a local centre at the junction of Groveley Lane and Parsonage Drive and would like to see the following facilities being developed at this site – shops, health centre / clinic, library and a community hall. Equally, we support the idea of a Mixed Use Core Area on the site of the North Work to include educational, – retail, leisure, residential and employment uses.

Improvements to Cofton Park
The Society supports the construction of an Austin Heritage Centre to maintain links with the industrial heritage of the site. The Previous Options indicated that a new centre would be incorporated into the Mixed Use Core Area on the North Works site. The Society is disappointed, therefore to see in ‘The Preferred Option’ AAP that the location for the Heritage Centre is now being considered in Cofton Park. We believe that this is an inappropriate location for the centre for a number of reasons, but particularly it would involve a change in the use of land in Cofton Park and also it would adversely change the character of the Park.
The Society would be happy to see some small-scale improvements being made to the existing buildings within Cofton Park to support the recreational/sporting activities that take place there – namely the provision of new changing facilities. Any new buildings would need to be appropriate in scale and design in order not to detract from the character of the Park.

Naturally, we support the "green" ideas such as of opening up as much of the natural River Rea watercourse as possible. Inevitably it would be a semi-artificial water system at ground level but that is preferable to the river being underground in a culvert.

Litter ?

We thought every one knew what litter was but a letter writer to a local paper confused tree debris with the accursed human flotsam and jetsam. Jill Harvey in her guise of Lickey Hills Consultative Committee Chairman wrote a reply to the letter, and pointed out that although fallen branches etc are removed when they are dangerous or in the way, but they are generally left in the wilder parts of the park as they contribute to, and provide food for, the flora and fauna. Perhaps the writer would like to turn up for our real litter picks!
Speaking of which our thanks to those who turned up for our first litter pick this year. Not everyone can make it of course, but if we had a medal for the most frequent litter pickers, then Katherine Beresford and Cath Elliot would get one, so a special thanks to them. We could call the medal, the 'golden can' as much of the litter is just that, - steel and aluminium which we re-cycle.

Speaking of which, you will remember that we wrote to Carling about their cans being probably the most deposited on the hills. Carling replied that they do care about how and where cans are dropped and that an anti-litter message will be on the next design. As they will be adding alcohol danger warnings in the near future, the litter message should accompany it.

Balsam Bash!!!
Saturday 28th July at 2pm - 4pm

Here's a chance to get rid of some energy and that perfidious plant the Himalayan Balsam. We shall spend an afternoon attacking this dreaded weed and help to free the Lickey Hills of another invasive species. Tools and guidance will be provided but you provide the energy. Please turn up and stamp out!! We will meet at the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre.