Comment

Representation ID: 130

Received: 20/12/2023

Respondent: Mrs K Towns

Roads are busy enough so to add cycle lanes that would barley be used would be a waste of time and money.

Comment

Representation ID: 391

Received: 22/12/2023

Respondent: Cllr Wayne Little

As the strategic centre for the Dudley Borough, Brierley Hill comprises of three core economic locations;
● High St
● Waterfront
● Merry Hill Centre
At present they are poorly connected, particularly for pedestrians.

Earlier this year, we were really pleased to secure Levelling up Funding to help address these ‘severance’ issues.

We would therefore like to see The Plan specifically include details of how the connectivity and
‘severance’ issues will be improved.

We believe this will result in a better connected Strategic Centre, which will increasingly encourage people to want to live, work and visit the area, supported by the arrival of The Metro.

Comment

Representation ID: 406

Received: 18/01/2024

Respondent: Cllr Adam Davies

As the strategic centre for the Dudley Borough, Brierley Hill comprises of three core economic locations;
● High St
● Waterfront
● Merry Hill Centre

At present they are poorly connected, particularly for pedestrians.

Earlier this year, we were really pleased to secure Levelling up Funding to help address these
‘severance’ issues.

We would therefore like to see The Plan specifically include details of how the connectivity and ‘severance’ issues will be improved.

We believe this will result in a better connected Strategic Centre, which will increasingly encourage people to want to live, work and visit the area, supported by the arrival of The Metro.

Comment

Representation ID: 486

Received: 19/12/2023

Respondent: Brierley Hill Community Forum

There is little in the plan about achieving connectivity across the strategic centre of Brierley Hill. In fact this is only referred to once. “Delivering an integrated and accessible town centre” was a key objective of the Council’s 2011 Brierley Hill Area Action Plan – why is this not a key objective of the current draft Plan?

See pages 8-11 of the AAP which set out this as the first challenge for the AAP.

AAP 2011 page 9 - “New connections need to be made between the High Street, Waterfront and Merry Hill, and their surrounding areas, and sustainable transport options need to be enhanced to improve access to everyone”.
Given that Brierley Hill is now the strategic centre of the borough, we would expect a lot more emphasis to be placed on the need to join up its separate elements. This should once again be a core objective of the new Local Plan.

At the moment Brierley Hill High Street, Merry Hill and the Waterfront all have very different identities and are effectively separated from one another by topography and physical barriers.

If one of the intentions of the plan is to promote Brierley Hill as a strategic centre, a key objective of the plan should be to propose ways in which these three distinct areas can be more effectively integrated. This could include physical connections such as bridges across the canal, better connectivity between the Waterfront and Merry Hill across Level St.

The potential residential development of sites between Merry Hill and Brierley Hill clearly offers the opportunity to create linkages and join up these areas. It is really important that when these sites are developed the opportunity is taken in their design to achieve a relationship with both Brierley Hill and Merry Hill.

Comment

Representation ID: 491

Received: 22/12/2023

Respondent: Mike Wood

Residents have raised concerns with me about the strain on infrastructure the building of new homes will have on the local area and community. My office regularly receives complaints about congestion on the roads, particularly on main routes such as the A491, A4101 and Bromley Lane / Bromley, and proposals in the Draft Local Plan will inevitably place even greater pressure on roads that are already extremely busy at peak times. It is imperative that the Council ensures that the necessary provisions are in place to accommodate any increase in population or changes in land use as a result of the plan.

Support

Representation ID: 671

Received: 22/12/2023

Respondent: Natural England

We welcome the inclusion of point h:
h. Improved links to and within Saltwells National Nature Reserve and to Buckpool, Fens Pools and Barrow Hill Local Nature Reserve, and onward connections to Smestow Valley (northwest) and Netherton Park/Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve (east).