Brandhall golf course planning meeting 'inadequate' say Tories – Halesowen News

An eye-watering five hour council meeting to discuss the decision-making process behind the future use of a former golf course has been described by one Conservative councillor as “inadequate”.
It comes after a Labour councillor, Ellen Fenton, called for the decision to be scrutinised in a special meeting, as cabinet members looked on in shock.
Sandwell council had intended to build 550 houses, a new public park, and a new school at the former Brandall golf course, in Oldbury – dubbed the Brandhall Village. But political pressure from Brandhall Green Space Action Group (BGSAG) forced the local authority to reconsider.
Councillors considered five different options at a previous cabinet meeting in July. After a lengthy debate, the members voted on option three – to build 190 new houses, a school to replace the ageing Causeway Green primary school, and develop a 26-hectare park. They also approved the majority of the site as a zone for nature conservation.
Ian Bennett, the chair of Brandhall Green Space Action Group, said residents across Langley, Bristnall and Old Warley were “wholly and unfairly treated across this entire procedure”.
He raised five objections to councillors and claimed Sandwell council had been deliberately “ignoring pre-existing agreements” that protect the green space.
He said: “As early as 2015, concerns arose about Sandwell’s treatment and narrative around Brandhall green space. The Local Plan, dated 2012, designated Brandhall green space as ‘white land’. However, when initially purchased in 1928 by Oldbury district council, multiple sources document that it was purchased ‘with a view to its preservation as a public open space’.
Mr Bennett also claimed the former golf course was never subject to a Strategic Housing and Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) – a technical exercise into the suitability and achievability of a potential development site. 
Government advice says a SHLAA has no bearing on the determination of planning applications and should not be used to allocate sites for housing development.
Councillor Peter Hughes, the cabinet member for regeneration and growth, hit back at critics who suggested the public did not receive fully unredacted documents about Brandhall green space.
He said: “We are being as open and transparent in the decision-making process as we can, and the council is putting as much information as possible into the public domain.
“There is a clear need for a new school and housing in this part of the borough, and we also want to ensure that the green space at Brandhall is accessible for all. It is our duty to weigh up and balance the competing priorities for this site, and cabinet members will now carefully assess the points raised as part of the call-in process.”
In a letter to residents, Conservative councillor Jay Anandou, one of the main campaigners backing the BGSAG said the answers provided by the council were “inadequate”.
He said: “The scrutiny board has questioned the large variance in the finances on the options proposed by the cabinet, and wanted a full breakdown and the funding arrangement of the proposed option.
“The SHLAA assessment was conducted, why wasn’t it included as part of the cabinet’s decision making process? Why [was] the same methodology used for other sites included in the SHLAA wasn’t used at Brandhall?”
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