Campaigners reignite fight to save last piece of untouched meadowland in Amblecote which is under threat from developers

The Save the Corbett Meadow Action Group has launched a new petition urging Dudley’s hospital trust not to sell off the important ecological site for housing.

Members of the action group, which was formed around three years ago, thought they had staved off any development of the meadow, off Vicarage Road, after successfully battling plans submitted by the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and house builder Charles Church to convert the wildlife haven into a housing estate with 84 new homes in January 2023.

However, the hospital trust and developer both made submissions to the Dudley Local Plan - expressing a strong and continued desire to develop the land to the rear of Corbett Outpatients Centre and objecting to proposals to designate it as a Local Green Space which would give it greater protection in perpetuity.

The action group was left shocked and dismayed earlier this year when it became apparent the hospital trust and house building company remain determined to develop the land - a designated Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).

News is expected next month on whether the Dudley Local Plan, which sets out where in the borough can accommodate future housing and employment needs until 2041, will be approved.

While campaigners wait nervously for an update, they have launched a new online petition to highlight their ongoing concerns about the future of the site which was gifted to the people of Stourbridge by benefactor John Corbett in 1893, along with the land Corbett Outpatients Centre sits on, for the benefit of their wellbeing.

It had been part of John Corbett’s Hill estate where the original Corbett Hospital was built and it fell into NHS ownership when the NHS was created in 1948 - with the Dudley Group now responsible for the site which has been leased for grazing for the last 40 years.