Cityheart’s Solihull housing scheme set for green light
Plans to build 130 homes near Birmingham Airport look set for approval, after local authority planning officers gave the scheme a provisional thumbs up.
Cityheart will head to Solihull MBC’s planning committee this evening hoping for outline permission to develop an agricultural plot on Old Station Road, around a mile from both Birmingham International station and Hampton In Arden.
Around 50% of the scheme is earmarked for affordable housing.
A planning statement prepared by consultants Made It Together described the 17-acre site as “underperforming Green Belt”, which would help Solihull meet its updated yearly housing target of around 1,300 homes.
“The presence of strong, defensible boundaries, namely the M42, Railway, and Old Station Road, helps to contain the site and limits the potential for sprawl or coalescence,” it said.
“The site is a grey belt site that does not serve a strong purpose in the wider Green Belt and does not represent land that would demonstrably be critical in preventing sprawl, preventing merging, and safeguarding encroachment.”
The application drew 87 objections from residents, alongside a representation from Meriden and Solihull East MP Saqib Bhatti MBE – with Henley In Arden Parish Council also expressing concerns over a planned acoustic fence intended to shield residents from the bordering M42 motorway.
But a report set to go before councillors at Solihull’s planning committee concluded that the overall planning balance of the proposal is “firmly in favour” – and recommended the scheme be approved.
Planning officers at Solihull MBC said the “well contained” scheme met the golden rules for Grey Belt development set out in the updated NPPF, and had a positive relationship with the edge of Hampton in Arden.
“There is an identified demonstrable unmet housing need for the type of development proposed,” said their report.
The application has been recommended for approval ahead of a meeting of Solihull’s planning committee on 4 November, at 6pm.
Plans and documents relating to the scheme can be found on Solihull’s planning portal using reference: PL/2025/01572/PPOL
