Plan for Oldbury homes next to M5 rejected over cancer fears might still go ahead

Sandwell Council rejected an application to build the mix of flats and homes on a much-loved ‘wildlife corridor’ off Titord Road next to the Asda supermarket and M5 in Oldbury earlier this year.

The local authority’s planning committee rejected the move over fears that future residents would be subject to toxic pollution from not only the M5 but the busy Wolverhampton Road and Titford Road – with the predicted level of poisonous fumes from the busy roads breaching illegal levels for families by the time they moved onto the new estate.

However, developer Countryside has now lodged an appeal with the government’s planning inspectors, who have the power to overrule the council, in a bid to get the decision overturned.

If the inspectors disagree with the reasons behind the rejection from Sandwell Council’s planning committee, it could mean the estate is allowed to be built despite the stark warnings.

Ahead of the planning meeting in February, the authority’s planners had recommended the application should be given the green light, despite anxiety from colleagues in the environmental health department about the dangerous and harmful levels of pollution.

The ‘fine’ pollution particles – otherwise known as particulate matter or PM2.5 because of their less than 2.5-micrometre diameter – contain microscopic solids and liquids that can get deep into your lungs. It is linked to cancer, heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight.

However, the rejection and the deemed unsuitability of the land from councillors came after the council had already earmarked the space as a potential site for new homes. The land off Titford Road was included in the not-yet-approved Sandwell Local Plan – a housing blueprint drawn up in recent years by the council following the collapse of the Black Country Plan in 2022.

As well as the pollution concerns, local councillors were also anxious about the added traffic.

A new entrance to the homes would have been built off Titford Road – which was already “challenging” according to local councillors – with congestion and the lack of parking in the cramped street an ongoing problem.

“The traffic is a nightmare and the air quality, I believe, is disgusting,” Langley councillor and then borough mayor Bill Gavan said at the planning meeting in February. “I totally object to this.”

It was another close shave for those looking to protect the green space from development with planners recommending the homes plan should be approved.

The land behind the Asda supermarket off Wolverhampton Road is home to badgers, foxes and birds and acts as an important barrier to protect homes from M5 pollution, according to residents, but campaigners were faced with a fresh battle when development plans were put back on the table by housing developer Countryside at the start of the year.

Campaigners had won what was described as a ‘David and Goliath’ battle with London-based developer Canmoor in 2019 for two industrial units, loading bays and a service yard. A petition boasting more than 20,000 signatures was handed to Sandwell Council’s planning committee, which later rejected the application.