Solihull councillors in heated debate over 'local plan' having to be scrapped

Accusations of "arrogance" during local plan saga fallout

The fallout over a massive housing plan for Solihull having to be scrapped was on show at a heated council meeting. Accusations of “arrogance” by Solihull Council's leadership were countered by the council leader stressing he was the one protecting the borough's green belt.

The ‘local plan’ row came to a head when it was debated at the authority’s latest full council meeting at the Civic Suite on Tuesday, (October 8). Before the debate began Solihull Council ’s mayor Councillor Shahin Ashraf - chairing the meeting - reminded councillors to conduct the meeting with respect towards others.

But by the end Coun Ashraf was having to repeat the warning. The housing blueprint, which once adopted becomes the main consideration in deciding planning applications, has been delayed since 2022 as the council and planning inspectorate have been at loggerheads.

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The inspectorate’s view around where around 2,000 extra homes - needed to help meet the need for housing from the wider Birmingham area before the end of the decade - should be built had been a major part of the dispute. In the summer the inspectorate wrote to the council saying the plan needed to be withdrawn saying: “The council has made it clear it is not willing to identify and allocate additional sites in the green belt to address the significant shortfall in supply we have identified.”

During the meeting council leader Ian Courts said their ruling group had taken the “pragmatic approach” in challenging the inspectorate and stressed the aim had always been to protect the green belt from having homes being built on it. He said money had not been lost in the process with evidence gathered being able to be used to draw up a new plan.

But Liberal Democrat councillor Ade Adeyamo said it had been a “very long and sorry saga” in which the Conservative administration - through “poor leadership” and “arrogance” - had brought the council to a point where there was no alternative other than to withdraw. And Councillor Max McLoughlin, leader of the opposition Green Party, said councillors would now have to support the withdrawal of the plan as not doing so would test the patience of the inspectorate “even more”.

In response the leader said the opposition’s statements were “incredible” and accused the opposition of being “opportunistic” in their criticism. “Arrogance actually should be withdrawn,” the leader said.

“This Conservative administration is doing its utmost to protect the green belt while producing a local plan. Everything we have done on the local plan has been attacked.”

Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, the cabinet portfolio holder for planning, said: “It is very clear to me the Liberals and the Greens are anti-green belt.” And Conservative councillor Sardul Marwa said: “It looks like the Green Party needs to change their name.

"The Conservative Party is the only party protecting the green belt.” When the vote was taken councillors agreed the draft local plan be withdrawn and work on a new local plan begin with “immediate effect”.

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