Many of the links in this post are .PDF files. If you haven’t already got it, go and get Adobe Reader before clicking on any of the links.

I discovered today that detailed plans had finally been submitted for the site of the now demolished Shire Oak reservoir. It’s been some time since the first site notice went up advertising the development by Morris Homes, during which time some consultation with residents has clearly been ongoing. The application is for ‘…35 residential units and associated infrastructure including appearance, landscaping, layout and scale‘, and is filed under application number 10/0274/RM – full details can be accessed at Walsall Council’s ‘planning interactive’ site. Supporting documentation is amazingly detailed, and covers the full extent of plot layout, junction design and dwelling types proposed. To see the submitted plans, click on the application number in the previous link, and click ‘View supporting documents…’.

Browsing the documentation, I note that there is actually a Shire Oak Resident’s Group, whose existence I hadn’t previously been aware of, set up in response to concerns about the redevelopment of the former reservoir. The resident’s group – S.O.R.G. for short – have both Google and Facebook groups. If any members happen to be reading this, if there’s anything you’d like to contribute, please feel free. The Brownhills Blog is always open to all of it’s readers.

In discussions I’ve both participated in and overheard concerning the development, many seem to be concerned about traffic issues. The development will include a modified junction, fully detailed in this drawing, but a relevant portion is included below.

The entrance to the development will feature a dedicated turnout lane, refuges and visibility splay. Taken from Morris Homes drawing No. MOR/PL-160, rev F

Since outline permission has already been granted for the junction design, the question of the housing development itself is fairly straightforward, and seems likely to go ahead. Studying the plans, they look like pleasant houses, and I note that efforts seem to have been made to retain the larger trees at the fringes of the site. Where hedgerows are to me removed, plans note that ‘compensatory planting’ will be undertaken in the nature reserve to the rear.

Elevation drawings of the close are also supplied, and show a modern, sympathetically designed development with an interesting and varied roofline, with plenty of tree planting. One thing is for certain, plots 1,2 & 3 will have a fantastic view from their bedroom windows.

Street elevation of plots 3-7, this will be the left hand side of the new access road, as viewed from the Lichfield Road.

Street elevation of plots 32-30, this will be the right hand side of the new access road, as viewed from the Lichfield Road.

The following selected links take you directly to the named documents at Walsall Council’s planning interactive site. Also available there are descriptive plans of each proposed house design.