The Lickey Hills Society

Cofton Hackett Library
Along with many local residents and members, the Lickey Hills Society Committee is very concerned about the current situation affecting Cofton Hackett Library. The library has been closed, possibly permanently, following the discovery of asbestos. Our Chairman, Mike Brooke, wrote to the Worcestershire Library and Information Service, the local press and
others who have an interest in the issue. Mike made the following points.

• The library is one of the very few community facilities in the area for local knowledge and for those who
  do have not the Internet at home.
• Many of the library users are quite elderly and they would find it difficult to travel to other libraries in the area.
• Several years ago, the City of Birmingham closed a library in Leach Green Lane.
• A recent report, mentioned in the national press, indicated the growing numbers of people reading fiction so this
  is not an appropriate time to be considering a library closure.
• In the short term a ‘Portacabin’ type building on the site, or the use of the Bilberry Centre, could provide temporary space for the library to maintain continuity.
• Looking to the future, the most recent Area Action Plan for the Longbridge Plant sites suggests that 700 houses will be built on the East Works site in Cofton Hackett. We believe that this would be the ideal location for a new library as part of a local centre for the local community.

Development of the former "Just in Time" site at Rover.
We expressed our strong reservations to Bromsgrove DC Planning Department concerning the plan to put up factory buildings on the new car parking/storage area at the former "Just in Time" facility off Groveley Lane on the opposite side of the railway from the East Works site. We argued that the close proximity of this site to the Green Belt and the Lickey Hills Country Park, would mean yet more building into this area of Great Landscape Value, which would effectively increase the visual effect of the built environment. We contended that the Planning Committee should question whether this land should be further developed at all given that the "Just in Time" warehouse, of which this was an integral part, was originally developed and allowed in the Green Belt land as a special case. We wrote that this land should now be returned to the Green Belt or left as it is, a low level feature that does not affect the views of or from the Lickey Hills nor from the public footpaths, in particular the north Worcestershire path. We believe that there is ample scope within the former boundaries of the overall Rover site for this development. We argued that if the Planning Committee had a mind to reject our suggestions and to permit the building of the factory buildings, which they subsequently did, then they should consider the importance of lessening the visual impact of the structures. Although the developer's documents sought to prove that the structures would not have a great impact on the landscape, we stated our belief that. on the contrary, the sensitivity of this landscape site will mean that this development will have a greater impact than that envisaged. Also the improvement in the view, facilitated by the removal of the old wartime works buildings on the other side of the railway and their replacement by low level housing, will be nullified by these proposed warehouse buildings. We suggested that there should be a determined attempt by the Planning Committee to limit the visual impact of these proposed warehouse
buildings by insisting that:

• the proposed buildings be as low as possible
• rather than levelling this sloping site to the highest point, as proposed, it should be levelled to its lowest point by excavation
• there should also be a considerable planting of appropriate trees and vegetation to screen the site.

The Planning Committee rejected our suggestions. It gives us no satisfaction that when the unnecessary Just in Time structure was put up in the Green Belt years ago, we told everyone who would listen that other developments would in time be built on this side of the railway. What we did not envisage at the time was that this development would be carried out when it was glaringly obvious to anyone who uses their eyes that there is a massive amount of available old factory land which could be used . What price consultation and reasoned argument?

Our Congratulations
Our congratulations to member Cath Elliott who has been awarded an MBE for her work with the Save the Children Fund which she has been doing for many years now. Cath has been a member of the LHS for many years and began her sojourn in the area in Chadwich Manor as a child. We must persuade her to write us a biographical note or two!

Recent Events
Our thanks to those members who turned out on Saturday 28th July for a bash at the Himalayan Balsam that plagues the Lickeys as well as many other open spaces. Our team, which ranged in age from 3 to 70 years, spent a satisfying two hours rooting out this attractive yet suffocating (to other plants) invader. It would be great but dishonest to claim that we made a great dent in its coverage because there is so much of it. We shall need to re-visit the site and many others if this menace is to be halted.