Residents angry at Walsall green belt homes plan

The space for the houses has "beautiful, open-field views," one campaigner said

Plans for 600 homes to be built on green belt land in Walsall have caused anger among residents.

People gathered at the arboretum in the town leafleting and encouraging the public to have their say before the consultation closes on Monday.

The development is part of the wider Black Country Plan, which is proposing thousands of new homes.

An online petition against the houses planned for next to the arboretum has more than 1,700 signatures.

Campaigners argued trying to log their opinions, which had to be done online, had been difficult and excluded some people.

Among the campaigners was Bobby Owen, who said: "It's green belt, it's beautiful, open-field views of grazing animals that are nowhere else in the park, and it's a wildlife corridor between nature reserves and other parks.

"Nobody was actually told. The information is available online, but you have to know that the information is online. I found out from a neighbour part-way through the consultation process.

"So that's what we've been trying to do here, is to let people know that this process is happening and these proposals are out there to build homes on green belt."

Bobby Owen said residents were frustrated they did not have much time to lodge objections

She added: "Don't give up the green belt and deprive our future generations of it."

Ms Owen said she also had concerns over flooding.

"The arboretum floods most years, and it's quite spectacular when it does, but it's not really pleasant.

"The ducks move into what becomes a pond in the field and yet the planners are telling me that the site isn't a flood risk," she added.

Councillor Aftab Nawaz, Labour group leader at the Conservative-controlled Walsall Council, attended the gathering.

He said: "The biggest concern from residents is that they don't feel that they've had a fair time to have their say on this consultation.

"This is one of the most valued pieces of land that we have... with this ecology, wildlife and the greenery that we've got and people are shocked that this has been put forward as a proposal."

Councillor Aftab Nawaz said: "Once we lose the green belt, it's gone forever"

He said he and residents accepted houses need to be built, but he argued they should be "in an appropriate place".

"Getting rid of the green belt and building on such a beautiful land which has got so much diversity in ecology is the wrong decision," he said.

"It's the wrong place and we should be looking at brownfield sites and we should be looking at town centre development. We should be more creative in looking at that. Once we lose the green belt, it's gone forever."

A spokesperson for Walsall Council said: "We have consulted extensively with the borough on the draft Black Country Plan.

"It meets the statutory requirements for publicity on development plans and our consultation ran for eight weeks rather than the statutory six, so that people had a longer time to respond."