3 March 2016
The cynical part of this, however, was that for some reason Conservative controlled Solihull Council refused planning permission for this site and we are only having a new shop unit because of the intervention of a Planning Inspector who overruled the Council on appeal. It is the first time I have ever had to make a submission to a Planning Inspector opposing a decision of the Solihull Council Planning department but I am pleased that he agreed with me that any effort to regenerate Shirley high street should be supported.
To quote the planning inspector, “At the time of my site visit waste storage bins were visible through the palisade gate/fence which front the site.”So clearly anything in its place will be an improvement.
It is time for Solihull Council to move on and start supporting Shirley high street and help those of us who care about Shirley pull it back from the edge. Solihull Council secretly wasted £10.5million of council taxpayers’ money on the Parkgate scheme that has failed to fulfil its primary goal of regenerating the high street. Why stop someone who obviously cares about Shirley from investing a fraction of this in an effort to make a positive difference?
