Woods and parkland near homes protected from development
Plans to give more protection to nature conservation sites in Sandwell have been approved by council chiefs.
Councillors have agreed to upgrade the official designation of four green spaces in the borough, which can help protect them from unwanted development in the future.
The sites include Massey’s Bank in Tividale, Peakhouse Farm, Tanhouse Avenue in Great Barr and land east of Wilderness Woods and Wilderness Lane.
The areas are to be be designated Sites of Local Importance for Nature (SLINC) Conservation (SLINC) and Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).
The areas include a variety of habitats including farmland, hedgerows, woods and flooded areas which supports and encourages a range of plant and wildlife species.
A report to Sandwell cabinet said Massey’s Bank is dominated by semi-natural grassland and plantation woodland is part of the wider Rowley Hills and is seen as ecologically important to Sandwell.
Peakhouse Farm is traditional farmland with an extensive network of native hedgerows and grassland habitat.
Tanhouse Avenue also includes grassland, woodland and hedgerows, and forms part of the extensive open space of Sandwell Valley.
And land to the east of Wilderness Woods and Wilderness Lane includes flooded wetland.
They are part of over 100 nature conservation sites in the borough.
Councillor Bob Lloyd, cabinet member for inclusive economic growth, recommended the proposal.
He said: “There a number of benefits for us doing this and the major one is that it will enable us to defend our green space from development in the future although it’s not laid out it staute it will enable us to do that.”
Asked what protection the new designations would give, he replied: “The staus is a material consideration in planning applications. So if someone made an application to develop those sites, the planning committee can take that material consideration into account and possibly stop it. “
The recommendation was accepted unanimously.
