Land at The Oliver Bird Hall, Church Hill Road, Solihull, B91 3RQ

54 residential apartments for older people, including demolition of a wing on The Rectory and conversion of The Rectory to residential apartments including additions, with parking, landscaping and ancillary facilities

Authority: Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Underwood G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect the development would have on the significance of designated and non-designated heritage assets

What decided it

The less than substantial harm to designated heritage assets, particularly the Conservation Area, was found to outweigh the public benefits of the scheme, including housing delivery and specialist older persons' housing.

The considerable public benefits of housing delivery, specialist older persons' housing, an affordable housing contribution and conservation works to The Ruin did not outweigh the harm to the significance of designated heritage assets, particularly the Conservation Area, so the balance tipped against the proposal

Plan policies cited: Policy P15, Policy P16, Policy P5

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.