DORRIDGE residents are to be asked to draw up a plan for what they want in the village centre after the defeat of a Sainsbury’s scheme.The ‘village plan’ should be produced by The Dorridge and District Residents’ Association, a strong opponent of the supermarket plan, council chiefs said.
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It will receive ‘technical and financial support’ from Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and be ‘prepared by the local community’.
The plan was called for after the Sainsbury’s plan was rejected by councillors for Forest Court.
It will inform future planning decisions.
Similar plans have been adopted in Meriden and Balsall Common.
Ian Spencer, chairman of the DDRA, told The Silhillian: “The Dorridge & District Residents Association will be happy to be active in producing a village plan.
“However, we need to be realistic as to the power of these plans, especially when we consider that Sainsbury's still own the Forest Court site and planning officers explained that the reason that the planners were out of step with local opinion was that they were viewing from the supposed benefits to the borough rather than the village.”
He said the council’s broader planning rules – contained in the local development framework document – must be ‘properly drafted to protect our communities’.
Mr Spencer said: “We are also conscious that it is not just the centre of Dorridge that needs proper consideration, but that there is potential for a very large residential development somewhere around Knowle and Dorridge and Bentley Heath driven by pressure from central Government.
“With that in mind, we will also be seeking to work with Knowle Society to ensure that the sibling communities of Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath are protected as best we can within the planning system.”
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